A new multidisciplinary study on the enigmatic large Horseshoe bat – found widespread throughout South and East Africa – has revealed that instead of just one species as previously believed, the bat is in fact five different species, four of which have just been classified for the first time following their discovery.
The discoveries have just been published in PLoS ONE, with the investigation led by bat experts and evolutionary geneticists from the University of Venda, Stellenbosch University, the University of Swaziland, the University of KwaZulu Natal, and the University of Cambridge.
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Image: The Mount Mabu Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus mabuensis) as discovered by Dr Julian Bayliss, one of the four new species of African Horseshoe bat. Credit: Julian Bayliss
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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Multidisciplinary approach unlocks ‘cryptic’ African bat revealing four new species
17 September 2012
Latest research has discovered four new species of Horseshoe bat in Africa by piecing together clues such as DNA data and sonar frequency. This innovative approach could be used to tackle mysteries of other ‘cryptic’ species.