PNG: ‘Extinct’ bat rediscovered

A big-eared bat has been rediscovered in Papua New Guinea after dropping out of sight for more than a century.

Students from University of Queensland’s School of Agriculture and Food Sciences in Australia caught one of the rare bats on a field expedition in the Abau coastal district of Papua New Guinea.

After their capture, the bat was identified by researcher Luke Leung, who told them that the species, Pharotis imogene, had not been reported since the first and only specimens were found in 1890.

“The species was presumed extinct,” Leung says.

Catherine Hughes, one of the students, says the initial aim of the field trip was to record the sounds of known bats in the area but a much bigger discovery was made.

“It was very unexpected. We never expected to stumble across this micro bat species,” Hughes said.

Officially, the bat had been listed on the international Red List of Threatened Species as critically endangered, possibly extinct.

Hughes says environmental factors could have contributed to a lack of sightings.

“This micro bat was caught in the lowland area, most of the lowland forests in PNG are under heavy threat from logging and conversion to agricultural lands,” she said.

The big-eared bats are distinguishable from other native bats by their large ears and the nose-leaf located behind their nostrils – this structure is thought to aid in echolocation.

Even though the bat species has not been sighted for 120 years, Hughes believes more are there and has called for more research.

“I think the best we could do is get out there, conduct more surveys in the area and see what we can get, because not much is known about their ecology,” she said.

“I’m certain that there would be a population still out there.”

Papua New Guinea is a known hot spot for biodiversity.

According to Leung, many new species are discovered each year, so biodiversity is rising, but at the same time many species are under threat.