New Bat Species Discovered -Sky Island Mountains
Scientists, from Bat Conservation Intentional, have discovered a new species of bat which has bright orange fur and black wings. They described this new dichromatic species, of Myotis (Chrysopteron) which was discovered in the Nimba Mountains in Guinea in the journal American Museum Novitates.
The new discovery has been named Myotis nimbaensis, after the Guinea mountain range where it lives.
“Discovery of this new taxon increases the number of Myotis species known from mainland Africa to 11 species, although patterns of molecular divergence suggest that cryptic species in the Chrysopteron clade remain to be described. This discovery also highlights the critical importance of the Nimba Mountains as a center of bat diversity and endemism in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Simmons et al 2021.
Jon Flanders, Director of endangered species intervention at Bat Conservation International, lead the expedition with eight other researchers. They were looking for the critically endangered Lamotte’s roundleaf bat (Hipposideros lamottei) in abandoned unstable mineshafts in the Nimba Mountains. As these are not safe to enter, the scientists tossed nets at the entrances of the mineshafts, trapping bats as they flew out. Amongst the dark-furred bats that they caught, one brightly coloured bat stood out.
In an interview in The Washington Post, Flanders said this new species has phenomenal colouring – “Its wings are black with these orange fingers. There aren’t a lot orange bats in the world. I don’t tend to work with that many brightly coloured bats. It’s definitely an unusual one for me.”
At first, they thought it might be an unusual colour variation of an already-known species, but after checking through identification guides, textbooks and online for a species match, they realised they might have discovered a new species. In order to be sure, they re-captured the first bat that they had found, a male, along with a female.
They then contacted Nancy Simmons, Chairwoman of the bat taxonomy group at the International Union for Conservation of Nature. She then contacted the American Museum of Natural History, New York, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington and the British Museum of Natural History, London to find out if they could match the brightly coloured bat’s genetic blueprint or its physical features in their collections. They could not and it was concluded that Myotis nimbaensis is at least 5% different from its closest-related species.
The scientists hope to study more about Myotis nimbaenis’ ecology and habitat to find out where it lives, what it eats and what it needs to survive. Bat Conservation International, along with the mining company SMFG, are working together to build new tunnels to help the survival of the Lamotte’s roundleaf bat. With more research these joint efforts will probably ensure the survival of Myotis nimbaensis as well.
Sky Islands
The Nimba Mountains are also known as the ‘sky islands’. These isolated mountain peaks lie a mile above sea level in sub-Saharan Africa. Their habitat is significantly different from the surrounding lowlands.
From the approximately 1,400 world wide bat species there are only a few known species of orange furred bats – found in China and South America, far from the Nimbia Mountains in West Africa. Over the past few years more than 20 new bat species have been discovered.
Find out more
You can read the research paper online – A new dichromatic species of Myotis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from the Nimba Mountains, Guinea
Main Picture – Myotis nimbaenis © Bat Conservation International