The Discovery of Six New Bats

Recently six new bat species were discovered just days before Halloween. The bats were discovered in several different forests on islands in the Philippines. The first species, being Murina Alvarezi, was discovered in the protected forest of Mount Kampalili-Puting Bato. Whilst the other species were hidden in plain sight, researchers were a bit shocked to find out that they were only a couple feet away from areas that were heavily researched. It meant they had only done a vague job. The tube nose bats are vulnerable to losing their habitats, so finding the bats wasn't too surprising. The group of bats were moved to a common group of the bat families, the tube-nosed bats.

Once the scientist had discovered the small group of bats, they had conducted several DNA tests. With their analysis, they were actually able to find some interesting things about the new species compared to the other ones. The tube nose bats are vulnerable to losing their habitats so finding the bats wasn't too surprising. The new species of bat differ heavily from the bats that were already on the islands. The Philippine islands host 79 different bat species, not including the six new bats, making it one of the most bat-diverse regions on the planet.

Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.