New Leaf-Nosed Bat Species Found In Vietnam

A new Griffin's leaf-nosed bat species was recently found in Vietnam, according to a new study. (See photo here.)

National Geographic reported that the bat, which has leaf-like protrusions from its face, was first seen in Chu Mom Ray National Park in 2008. The bat was described in the February issue of the Journal of Mammology.

However, Vu Dinh Thong, of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology in Hanoi, told the magazine that the new bat was almost mistaken for the great leaf-nosed bat, a species that is already known.

Researchers later caught some of the bats and found that it was a new species that was never documented.

The Huffington Post reported that the new bat species is named after the late Donald Redfield Griffin. He was a professor at Rockefeller University in New York who studied echolocation.

The National Geographic stated researchers recorded the sonar frequencies from the bats and took tissue samples. They found that bat issues its call at a different frequency from the great leaf-nosed bat.

Genetic results also showed that the new species is also genetically distinct, the National Geographic said of the study.