Nose-leaf explained

A nose-leaf, or leaf nose, is an often large, lance-shaped nose, found in bats of the Phyllostomidae, Hipposideridae, and Rhinolophidae families. Because these bats echolocate nasally, this nose-leaf is thought to serve a role in modifying and directing the echolocation call.^{[1] [2]}

The shape of the nose-leaf can be an important for identifying and classifying bats.^[3] Furthermore, the shape of the nose-leaf can identify behavior of the bat itself; for example, in the families that have the nose-leaf, experiments have shown it to act as a baffle and focus their emission beams.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Book: Macdonald, D.. 1984. The Encyclopedia of Mammals. Facts on File. New York. 805. 0-87196-871-1. registration.
2. Wetterer . Andrea L. . 2000 . Phylogeny of Phyllostomid Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera): Data from Diverse Morphological Systems, Sex Chromosomes, and Restriction Sites . Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History . 248 . 1 . 1–200 . 10.1206/0003-0090(2000)248<0001:POPBMC>2.0.CO;2 . etal. 2246/1595 . free .
3. Web site: Noseleaves . Myers, Espinosa . Parr, Jones . Hammond, Dewey . 2016 . Animal Diversity . 2 May 2016.
4. Vanderelst. Dieter. Lee. Ya-fu. Geipel. Inga. Kalko. Elisabeth. Peremans. Herbert. 2013. The noseleaf of Rhinolophus formosae focuses the Frequency Modulated (FM) component of the calls. Frontiers in Physiology. 4. 191. English. 10.3389/fphys.2013.00191. 23882226. 1664-042X. 3715718. free.