Greater Tube-nosed Bat

Fascinating facts about the Greater Tube-nosed Bat

• A bat that smells in stereo: the greater tube-nosed bat has two hollow nostrils that stick out like tiny trumpets, each one independently mobile. Scientists discovered these aren't just odd facial features — they're acoustic funnels that let the bat localise prey in 3D space using echolocation alone, without the split-second head turns other bats need. It's like having a directional microphone surgically implanted on your face.
• When night falls across temperate East Asian forests, the greater tube-nosed bat hunts at heights other bats avoid: they snatch insects and spiders directly from leaves and branches at the forest canopy edge, a feeding technique called gleaning. Most insect-eating bats hunt open air; this species works the clutter, where one wrong wingbeat means collision. Their larger ears and precise echolocation give them an edge where vision would be useless.
• The greater tube-nosed bat weighs just 4–5 grams — lighter than a penny — yet produces echolocation calls in frequencies above 140 kilohertz, twice the range of human hearing. These ultrasonic shrieks bounce back from gnats smaller than grains of sand, allowing a creature the size of a chickpea to navigate a forest the same way a sighted human navigates a room.
• Across their range from Japan to southern China, populations of Murina hilgendorfi remain stable despite habitat loss, a success rare among small forest bats. This resilience hints at an overlooked skill: they thrive in both old-growth and secondary forests, suggesting they tolerate fragmentation better than relatives. Understanding why matters as climate zones shift northward and forests are remapped by human land use.
• The tube-nosed bats (genus Murina) evolved their signature nostrils roughly 20–30 million years ago, a design so specialised it appears nowhere else in the mammal world. Yet they're so cryptic — roosting high in hollow trees, hunting in near-silence compared to echolocating neighbours — that science still knows almost nothing about their breeding cycles, social structure, or hibernation behaviour. A successful species can remain a mystery.

At a glance

About the Greater Tube-nosed Bat

In the twilight skies of eastern Asia, the Greater Tube-nosed Bat dances on leathery wings, its oversized nostrils twitching with every subtle vibration in the air. With an elegance that belies its peculiar appearance, this bat navigates the forest canopy with precision, homing in on the faint ultrasonic echoes that reveal the presence of unsuspecting insects. As it flits through the shadows, its distinctive, tube-like nostrils quiver with an almost comical intensity, a testament to the remarkable adaptability of this fascinating, yet little-known, creature.

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