There is something extraordinary about this bat. And it's not his funny and wacky nose, but the fact that until a few days ago he was absolutely unknown in the world of science. This is hipposideros Griffini, a new bat species recently discovered in Vietnam by Professor Dinh Thong, of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology in Hanoi, and his team.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
There is something extraordinary about this bat. And it's not his funny and wacky nose, but the fact that until a few days ago he was absolutely unknown in the world of science. This is thehipposideros Griffini, a new species of bat recently discovered in Vietnam by Professor Dinh Thong, of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology in Hanoi, and his team.
The study "A new species of Hipposideros (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae) from Vietnam", published in the Journal of Mammalogy explains that its characteristic nose is a powerful weapon of echolocation, Also called biosonar, or the biological sonar used by bats, dolphins and other Odontocetes, used to locate, identify and estimate the distance of objects during orientation, foraging or hunting.
The animal had already been sighted for the first time in 2008, in a national park in Vietnam, but only now it has been certain that it is really a new species never documented before. In fact it looks a lot likeHipposideros, armour-bearer and, in general, to all rinolofi, that is the only bats with these complicated lobes of skin on the nose, associated, in fact, with the emission of the ultrasonic pulses used in the echo-localization. But the various species differ in the details of the nasal leaves, especially of the central lobe or "saddle" which is visible from below and from the side, and of the upper projection or "hand".
Although the Griffini hipposideros is a smaller bat in size, the two animals have similar noses and sometimes live in the same environment in Vietnam, explains the Journal of Mammology. But, apparently, the newly discovered species is tame and quiet, according to Vu Dinh Thong, the lead author of the study, who also explained that he found that these mammals they are fond of Lychees.
In short, another proof of the immense wonders that our Blue Planet reserves for us, which man continues to threaten without remembering that the loss of biological diversity is truly worrying, as the process that accompanies environmental transformations is absolutely irreversible. What if new species are being discovered all the time (according to the New York Times, about 15.000 are reported every year), it would be good to remember, as stated in a United Nations campaign, that “Biodiversity is life. Biodiversity is our life ”.
Roberta Ragni
