Scientists have discovered a bat that was last seen 100 years ago
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Scientists have again managed to find a rare species of bat, which was last seen at the beginning of the 20th century.
This is reported by Sci Tech Daily.
Histiotus alienus, the big-eared brown bat, was first seen in 1916. Then it was described by the British zoologist Oldfield Thomas. It happened in the southern region of Brazil.
Since then, no one has heard of catches of this species. The bat was identified solely by its holotype, a unique specimen that represents the physical and molecular characteristics of the species. It is kept in the Natural History Museum in London.
| Photo: Cláudio et al. |
Now the species has been found again. Scientists from Brazil during the field expeditions of the research project in 2018 caught another specimen of the big-eared bat in the Palmas Grasslands Wildlife Reserve.
Specialized equipment and a net were used to catch the specimen, which were installed at the edge of the forest. When it was compared with Histiotus velatus, a typical species for the region, it was noticed that it did not look like it.
During further studies of the specimen, it was found out that it is indeed the same big-eared brown bat.
It has oval, large ears, connected by a very low membrane, dark brown in color, 100 to 120 mm long.
Scientists also expanded the range of the possible population, because the first bat was found 280 km from the place where it was spotted in 2018.
The species is currently known to occur in a variety of habitats, from dense tropical forests to coastal forests and grasslands, at altitudes from sea level to over 1,200 m above sea level.
This increase in the species’ distribution, however, does not mean an improvement in its conservation status: the species is currently classified as “data deficient” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Its habitat, the highly fragmented Atlantic Forest, is now under pressure from agricultural activities.
Previously, a red-listed lynx that was sold online was seized in the Kyiv region.
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