(Image source: LiveScience/Ralph Simon & Ralph Mangelsdorff)

BY TRACY PFEIFFER

ANCHOR ANTHONY MARTINEZ

A plant that talks back?

Only -- if you’re a bat.

A team of researchers has discovered a rainforest vine that uses specially-shaped leaves as quote- “echo beacons” for nectar-feeding bats. (Image: LiveScience/Ralph Simon & Ralph Mangelsdorff)

So what exactly is going on? A blogger for Discover Magazine explains -- all plants do it, but the echoes change depending on the receiver’s location.

But this particular type of rainforest vine -- has evolved a very distinctive leaf to send out a very distinctive signal.

“The curve of the dish sends back two very strong echoes – one from its centre, and another that rebounds off two sides – that merge in a mostly constant way, over a wide range of angles. To a flying bat, it must be the aural equivalent of the Mona Lisa’s eyes, a burst of echoes that follow it wherever it goes.”

And a writer for Dvice explains -- that special beacon slices through the sea of foliage to grab the bat’s attention.

“...they discovered that a bat that took 22 seconds to find one of these plants without any leaves on it could find the same plant in only 12 seconds with one single leaf attached to act as an echolocation beacon. It's faster, for sure, but the important bit is that it's obvious that bats can spot these special leaves from a distance and even when they're buried in other plants...”

And what’s the point? The study’s lead author explains to The New York Times...

“For the plants, it increases the success of pollination. For the bats, it’s good because it helps them find the flowers faster - they have to make several hundred visits to flowers every night.”