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Hindustan Times
12 hours ago
- Science
- Hindustan Times
New bat species found in Himalayas, East Asian bat mislabel corrected
Guwahati: The latest edition of the scientific journal Zootaxa reports the discovery of a new bat species — the Himalayan long-tailed Myotis (Myotis himalaicus) — in the Himalayan region, and corrects a long-standing error in Indian scientific literature by confirming that the East Asian free-tailed bat (Tadarida insignis), not the European species, is found in India. The tally of Indian bat species currently stands at 135 species, according to the journal published on Thursday. The Himalayan long-tailed Myotis belongs to the Myotis frater complex — a group of morphologically similar bats found across a wide range, including eastern China, Taiwan, central and southeastern Siberia, Korea, Japan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, the journal said. Scientists — Uttam Saikia from the Zoological Survey of India (Shillong), Rohit Chakravarty of the Nature Conservation Foundation (Mysuru), Gabor Csorba from the Hungarian Natural History Museum (Budapest), MA Laskar from St. Anthony's College (Shillong), and Manuel Ruedi of the Natural History Museum of Geneva — had collected the sample in May 2021, as part of a fresh reassessment of India's high-altitude bat diversity. After analysing the DNA of the species and correlating it with other known species for four years, a statement issued by the scientists read, 'This new bat named Himalayan long-tailed Myotis (Myotis himalaicus) was described based on specimens collected from higher elevation areas of Uttarakhand and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.' Believed to be native to the southern slopes of the Himalayas, this species has so far been spotted in Deodar, Pine, and Cedar forests, where it appears to be relatively uncommon. The journal added the East Asian free-tailed bat to the bat fauna of India. Based on detailed study of the specimen collected from Uttarakhand and genetic analysis, the researchers revealed that the globally Data Deficient East Asian free-tailed bat had been mistakenly identified as the European free-tailed bat (Tadarida teniotis). This species is distributed in the Himalayan region of India, as well as China, Taiwan, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula. The journal also sheds light on Babu's Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus babu), a species first discovered over a century ago in the Murree Hills of Pakistan and apparently common in the western and central Himalayas. Due to its morphological similarities with the Javan Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus javanicus), a species native to Southeast Asia, subsequent researchers had mistakenly considered it a synonym. However, the study confirms that Babu's Pipistrelle is a distinct species, with a distribution spanning Pakistan, the western Himalayas of India, and Nepal. The study also provided the first specimen-based confirmation of the presence of a few other bat species — Savi's Pipistrelle (Hypsugo savii) and the Japanese greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus nippon) — in India, which had so far only been mentioned based on either doubtful specimens or zoogeographic grounds. 'The study is expected to have significant implications in documentation and conservation of small mammalian fauna of India and also give a boost to further studies in the Indian Himalayas. With this revisionary study, the confirmed tally of Indian bat species currently stands at 135 species which is likely to go up as studies continue,' Zoological Survey of India director Dhriti Banerjee said.
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Science
- Miami Herald
‘Long'-tailed creature gets caught in trap in India forest. It's a new species
Under a cover of darkness, an 'elusive' creature with a 'long' tail flew through a mountain forest in northern India — or tried to, at least. But something enveloped it and trapped it. Scientists checked their net trap and found the 'soft' animal. It turned out to be a new species. A team of researchers visited over a dozen sites in Uttarakhand and the Western Himalayas between 2017 and 2021 to survey wildlife. The region is 'one of the richest and most diverse ecosystems on Earth,' but sections of it remain 'insufficiently' studied, according to a study published June 5 in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa. During their surveys, researchers set up mist nets of various sizes and waited to see what flew into the traps, the study said. They also ventured into 'confined spaces like tunnels and caves' with butterfly nets to see what they could catch. 'Finally in 2021, a few days before the end of my last field season in Uttarakhand, Baseer Baniya returned from our nets with a Collared Scops-Owl bycatch in one cloth bag, and a bat that he couldn't identify in the other,' study co-author Rohit Chakravarty wrote in a June 5 Facebook post. 'As soon as I pulled the bat out of the bag,' Chakravarty knew it was an 'elusive' bat he'd seen twice before and had been searching for for years. Researchers took a closer look at the unfamiliar-looking bat, analyzed its DNA and realized they'd discovered a new species of mouse-eared bat: Myotis himalaicus, or the Himalayan long-tailed Myotis. Himalayan long–tailed Myotis bats are considered 'medium-sized,' reaching about 3.5 inches in length and weighing less than an ounce, the study said. They have 'delicate' feet and 'relatively long' thumbs ending in 'a strong but short claw.' Their heads have 'short' ears and 'rather delicate' teeth. A photo shows the new species' 'dense, soft and relatively long' hair. Overall, the mouse-eared bat's fur is 'dark brown' with some lighter hues mixed in and a paler golden-brown belly. Himalayan long–tailed Myotis bats were caught in net traps in 'a variety of forested habitats at elevations between' 4,900 to 7,500 feet and 'appears (to be) uncommon,' the study said. Much about the new species' lifestyle remains unknown. Researchers said they named the new species after the Himalayan mountains where it was first discovered. So far, Himalayan long–tailed Myotis bats have been found in Uttarakhand, India, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, locations nearly 500 miles apart. Uttarakhand is a province of northern India bordering Nepal and Tibet. The new species was identified by its DNA, tail length, body proportions, ears, skull shape, coloring and other subtle physical features, the study said. The research team included Uttam Saikia, Rohit Chakravarty, Gabor Csorba, Mostaque Ahmed Laskar and Manuel Ruedi. The team also surveyed about two dozen other bat species.
