By Ifham Nizam

Sri Lankan scientists, and their foreign colleagues, had discovered a new bat species, living in Sri Lanka and India. This bat is scientifically known as Miniopterus phillipsi, and Phillip’s long-fingered bat in English.

The research team was led by young biologist, a PhD candidate of Ruhunu University, Tharaka Kusuminda, currently working at the Open University of Sri Lanka, Dr. Amani Mannakkara of the University of Ruhuna, former Professor Wipula Yapa of the University of Colombo, Dr. Kanishka Ukuwela of Rajarata University, Rajika Gamage of the Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka, Chamara Amarasinghe of Jetwing Yala Hotel,. Mathisha Karunarathna of the Sandaraja Wilderness Tourism Centre, in Kegalle, Professor Bruce D. Patterson of the United States of America Field Museum of Natural History. Scientists from Hungary, Switzerland, India, Russia and the United Kingdom have contributed to the study.

The research team told The Island that the discovery is the first time that a new species of Miniopterus bat had been discovered here and in India after eight decades.It is also the first time that a new bat species of this genus has been discovered in Asia after six decades. Animal specimens, related to this new species of bat, have been found in Sri Lanka and India before, but they have been identified as a different species of bat.

The morphological and genetic data of this species of bat have been used for this research, which was conducted under the initiative Kusuminda. There they have discovered that previously these bats were mistakenly identified as the species Miniopterus fuliginosus.

The research team stressed that the species was spread only in the temperate climates of South Asia and the countries of the Southeast Asian region. This is the second time that genetic technology has been used to confirm the taxonomic status of a bat species in Sri Lanka.

“But it is very sad and the use of this technology scarcely has been the main reason why the real species diversity of bats living in our country has not been properly revealed for decades, according to the researchers,” said the young biologist.

This species of bat has been named in honour of an English scientist, W.W.A. Phillips. Animal specimens collected from several places in Sri Lanka and a large number of animal specimens deposited in various museums of the world have been used for this research. Specimens of this new species have been found near the Bio Tea Garden Tea Estate, located in the Idalgashinna area, and additional specimens have been found in the Aranayake Sandaraja Forest, Thalawakele, Wellawaya Vaul Galge cave, and Wavulpane limestone Cave.

This species of bat shows a general distribution in wet and intermediate environmental zones in our country and has been reported in several places in the dry zone. But this species of bats choose only rock caves and much similar places as their day roosts, which is a matter of more concern in their conservation activities. The destruction of ecosystems in the guise of informal development projects in our country is a major threat to them and the destruction of large rocks that provide them with habitats, for the need of granite stones, will directly affect the future survival of this bat species.

The last new species of bat introduced to the world from our country was in 1932 by Mr. W.W.A. Phillips. After that three bat species were reported from Sri Lanka. But in those three cases, it has only been confirmed that the range extension of these three species into our country. Therefore, this new discovery can be considered as the first time to describe a new species of bat from our country to the world after 90 years. These research findings have recently been published in the latest issue of Acta Chiropterologica, a world-renowned scientific journal.