New Genus of Bat Discovered: Fluffy, Badger-Colored Mammal Found in Sudan

Catherine Griffin

First Posted: Apr 09, 2013 01:21 PM EDT

A new genus of bat has been discovered in South Sudan. The fluffy, black and white striped mammal was spotted in the Bangangai Game Reserve during a mission to conduct field research and improve conservation efforts.

At first, researchers believed that the bat was actually the same as one originally captured in the nearby Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1939. Named Glauconycteris superba, this bat also possesses the intricate black and white markings that the new one does. Yet after studying the new specimen closely, researchers kept finding more and more dissimilarities.

"After careful analysis, it is clear that it doesn't belong in the genus that it's in right now," said DeeAnn Reeder, one of the researchers who first discovered the new bat, in a news release. "Its cranial characters, its wing characters, its size, the ears--literally everything you look at doesn't fit. It's so unique that we need to create a new genus."

That's just what they did. The researchers proposed that the new bat should be put into the genus Niumbaha, which means "rare" or "unusual" in Zande, the language of the Azande people who live near where the bat was first captured.

"To me, this discovery is significant because it highlights the biological importance of South Sudan and hints that this new nation has many natural wonders yet to be discovered," said Matt Rice, FFI's South Sudan country director, in a news release. "South Sudan is a country with much to offer and much to protect."

Bats are currently experiencing a huge decline in numbers. In the U.S., white-nose syndrome has decimated bat populations. The fungus-associated disease causes hibernating bats to fly outside during the winter when there are no insects available. Eventually, the bats starve to death. A similar fungus has also been discovered in Europe, which could mean that issue could eventually impact bats globally.

This latest finding, though, reveals that there are still more bats to be discovered. The details of the new bat are published in the journal ZooKeys.

http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/6127/20130409/new-genus-bat-discovered-fluffy-badger-colored-mammal-found-sudan.htm

New Genus of Crustacean and Five New Species

Feb. 15, 2013 — On recent expeditions to Madagascar and the French Polynesia, two Spanish researchers have discovered five new species of crustacean and a new genus named Triodonthea .

Experts from the Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes and the University of Barcelona (UB) collected and studied different crustacean specimens during recent expeditions to Madagascar, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, the Philippines and French Polynesia.

Enrique Marcpherson

Using morphological and molecular data they have discovered five new species of crustaceans in the waters of these regions. They are genetically different but morphologically very similar and they also found a new genus, named Triodonthea. The five new species documented in the study belong to the Lauriea genus of the Galatheidae family, which is differentiated easily from other species of the group as it has very long setae and their legs end in a double spine.

"The Triodonthea is a new genus that it genetically very different from the Lauriea species despite being very morphologically similar. The morphological differences are small to our eyes but reflect great inequalities on a species level," as explained  by Enrique Macpherson, researcher at the Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes and co-author of the study along with Aymee Robainas-Barcia from the UB.

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130217083604.htm