New Species of Bat

An international team of researchers has discovered a new dichromatic species of bat in the Guinean Nimba Mountains belonging in the genus Myotis.

An artist’s impression of Myotis nimbaensis. Image credit: Patricia Wynne.

An artist’s impression of Myotis nimbaensis. Image credit: Patricia Wynne.

Myotis is the most speciose genus of bats with over 120 living species and a range that covers most of the world.

These bats are primarily insectivorous and range from tiny species that weigh only a few grams (e.g., Myotis elegans, 3-5 g) to quite large species (e.g., Myotis chinensis, 30-40 g).

They have color patterns that range from brown or black to brightly colored yellow or orange, including some dichromatic taxa with particolored orange and black wings.

The discovery of the new Myotis bat increases the number of species in the genus known from mainland Africa to 11.

“In an age of extinction, a discovery like this offers a glimmer of hope,” said Dr. Winifred Frick, chief scientist at Bat Conservation International and a researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

“It’s a spectacular animal. It has this bright-orange fur, and because it was so distinct, that led us to realize it was not described before. Discovering a new mammal is rare. It has been a dream of mine since I was a child.”

Myotis nimbaensis. Image credit: Bat Conservation International.

Myotis nimbaensis. Image credit: Bat Conservation International.

In 2018, Dr. Frick and colleagues were in the Nimba Mountains conducting field surveys in natural caves and mining tunnels, known as adits, that were built in the 1970s and 1980s and have since been colonized by bats.

Of particular interest was the Lamotte’s roundleaf bat (Hipposideros lamottei), which is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as ‘Critically Endangered.’

Much of its known population lives in the adits, which are in different states of collapse and will disappear in time.

While surveying for this bat species, the researchers found something peculiar — a bat that looked nothing like the Lamotte’s roundleaf bat and did not match the descriptions of any other species that they knew occurred in the area.

“As soon as I looked at it, I agreed that it was something new,” said Dr. Nancy Simmons, chair of the Division of Vertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History.

“Then began the long path of documentation and gathering all the data needed to show that it’s indeed unlike any other known species.”

Through morphological, morphometric, echolocation, and genetic data, including comparative data from museum collections, the scientists described the new species, which they named Myotis nimbaensis in recognition of the mountain range in which it is found.

“In addition to the Lamotte’s roundleaf bat, it’s possible that Myotis nimbaensis could be the second bat species found only in this particular mountain range,” said Dr. Jon Flanders, director of endangered species interventions at Bat Conservation International.

The description of Myotis nimbaensis was published in the journal American Museum Novitates.

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Nancy B. Simmons et al. 2021. A new dichromatic species of Myotis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from the Nimba Mountains, Guinea. American Museum Novitates 3963

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