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They believe it is second in size only to Calakmul, thought to be the largest Mayan site in ancient Latin America.

Driving west from El Hormiguero toward the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, the road wends through ceibas, strangler figs, and sapodillas, a tree prized since Maya times for its chicle gum.

For instance, the original route through the Calakmul reserve crossed one end of a vast cavern, dubbed “the bat volcano,” that’s home to about 3 million bats of eight species.

Under a starry sky in the Calakmul reserve, as unseen frogs chirp and insects trill, Medellín Legorreta patiently works to untangle a bat caught in a mist net.

Calakmul Biosphere Reserve on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula—The mother bat screeches furiously as Rodrigo Medellín Legorreta grips her, a thumb under her chin to prevent her razor-sharp teeth from sinking into his gloved hand.