Meghalaya has the highest bat diversity. Scientists have discovered a new species of bamboo-dwelling bat in Ri Bhoi district Meghalaya. It was found through Zoological survey of India. The scientist behind the discovery are Dr Uttam Saikia from the Zoological Survey of India along with Dr Gabor Csorba of the Hungarian Natural History Museum and Dr Manuel Ruedi of the Natural History Museum of Genev. The team collected the collected the specimen from the forested patch in the summer of 2020.
This newly discoverd species is found near Nongkhyllem wildlife Sanctuary. The Scientist has been named the species Glischropus meghalayanus. It belonged to thick thumbed bat species and it is small in size and has a dark brown colour with sulphur yellow belly.
Mr Saikia said “In the past few years we have reported three bamboo-dwelling bats from the area which highlight the ecological significance of the region. Since the bamboo forest around the wildlife sanctuary has a rich bio-diversity there should be attempts to conserve it,” He also pointed out that there were a number of cave-dwelling bats species from Meghalaya, the most common being Horseshoe bat and Leaf-nosed bats.
The present discovery is the first report of a thick thumped bat not only from India but also from south Asia. With this new discovery, the total number of bat species known from Indian stands at 131 and Meghalaya harbours the highest bat diversity with 67 species.
“Two recently collected Glischropus specimens from Meghalaya State in northeastern India extend the known distribution range of the genus westward into South Asia by ca. (approximately) 1,000 km. Morphological examination of these specimens and comparison with all known species in this genus revealed marked differences in colouration, dental characters and bacular traits. We therefore describe the Meghalaya specimens as a new species,” the paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa said. The scientist have hypothesized that this new species bats from Vietnam and Meghalaya may have a very recent common origin.
Reason to know about bat Echolocation
Bat has flawed vision. There eye rods are color insensitive. Thus things appear pitch black to them. They use echoes of self-produced sounds (ultrasonic-ranging in frequency from 20 to 200 kilohertz (kHz)) bouncing off objects to help them navigate.
