(Press-News.org) LEWISBURG, Pa. — Researchers have identified a new genus of bat after discovering a rare specimen in South Sudan. With wildlife personnel under the South Sudanese Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism, Bucknell Associate Professor of Biology DeeAnn Reeder and Fauna & Flora International (FFI) Programme Officer Adrian Garside were leading a team conducting field research and pursuing conservation efforts when Reeder spotted the animal in Bangangai Game Reserve.
"My attention was immediately drawn to the bat's strikingly beautiful and distinct pattern of spots and stripes. It was clearly a very extraordinary animal, one that I had never seen before," recalled Reeder. "I knew the second I saw it that it was the find of a lifetime."
After returning to the United States, Reeder determined the bat was the same as one originally captured in nearby Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1939 and named Glauconycteris superba, but she and colleagues did not believe that it fit with other bats in the genus Glauconycteris.
"After careful analysis, it is clear that it doesn't belong in the genus that it's in right now," Reeder said. "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."
In the paper, "A new genus for a rare African vespertilionid bat: insights from South Sudan" just published by the journal ZooKeys, Reeder, along with co-authors from the Smithsonian Institution and the Islamic University in Uganda, placed this bat into a new genus - Niumbaha. The word means "rare" or "unusual" in Zande, the language of the Azande people in Western Equatoria State, where the bat was captured. The bat is just the fifth specimen of its kind ever collected, and the first in South Sudan, which gained its independence in 2011.
"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. South Sudan is a country with much to offer and much to protect," said Matt Rice, FFI's South Sudan country director. FFI is using its extensive experience of working in conflict and post-conflict countries to assist the South Sudanese government as it re-establishes the country's wildlife conservation sector and is also helping to rehabilitate selected protected areas through training and development of park staff and wildlife service personnel, road and infrastructure development, equipment provision, and supporting research work. || Read more about FFI's conservation efforts in South Sudan here.
The team's research in South Sudan was made possible by a $100,000 grant that Reeder received from the Woodtiger Fund. The private research foundation recently awarded Reeder another $100,000 dollar grant to continue her research this May and to support FFI's conservation programs.
"Our discovery of this new genus of bat is an indicator of how diverse the area is and how much work remains," Reeder added. "Understanding and conserving biodiversity is critical in many ways. Knowing what species are present in an area allows for better management. When species are lost, ecosystem-level changes ensue. I'm convinced this area is one in which we need to continue to work."
To download hi-resolution photos of DeeAnn Reeder, Adrian Garside and Niumbaha superba in South Sudan, visit: http://www.bucknell.edu/X81336.xml
INFORMATION:
Original Source:
Reeder DM, Helgen KM, Vodzak ME, Lunde DP, Ejotre I (2013) A new genus for a rare African vespertilionid bat: insights from South Sudan. ZooKeys 285: 89. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.285.4892
Licensing
This press release is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. It is thus expected to link back to the original article.
Posted by Pensoft Publishers.
Additional Information:
About Fauna & Flora International (FFI)
FFI protects threatened species and ecosystems worldwide, choosing solutions that are sustainable, based on sound science and take account of human needs. Operating in more than 40 countries worldwide – mainly in the developing world – FFI saves species from extinction and habitats from destruction, while improving the livelihoods of local people. Founded in 1903, FFI is the world's longest established international conservation body and a registered charity.
About Bucknell University
Founded in 1846 and located along the banks of the Susquehanna River in historic Lewisburg, Pa., Bucknell University is the largest and one of the most highly ranked liberal arts universities in the country. Students can choose from more than 110 majors and minors in the arts, engineering, humanities, management, and social and natural sciences, as well as extensive global study, service-learning and research opportunities. Bucknell's 3,500 undergraduate and 100 graduate students from across the world enjoy a low 10-to-1 student-faculty ratio and 150 students clubs and organizations plus 27 Division 1 athletic teams.
Striped like a badger -- new genus of bat identified in South Sudan
The rare specimen was discovered by researchers from Bucknell University and Fauna & Flora International while conducting field research with wildlife authorities in South Sudan
2013-04-09
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Research holds revelations about an ancient society's water conservation, purification
2013-04-09
University of Cincinnati research at the ancient Maya site of Medicinal Trail in northwestern Belize is revealing how populations in more remote areas – the hinterland societies – built reservoirs to conserve water and turned to nature to purify their water supply. Jeffrey Brewer, a doctoral student in the University of Cincinnati's Department of Geography, will present his findings on April 11, at the Association of American Geographers' annual meeting in Los Angeles.
Brewer's research, titled "Hinterland Hydrology: Mapping the Medicinal Trail Community, Northwest Belize," ...
Der Steppenworm? 2 new species differ from the elusive 'Mongolian Death Worm'
2013-04-09
The 'Mongolian Death Worm', called olgoi-khorkhoi by the local population is a legendary animal with an unconfirmed existence that has preoccupied the imagination of the inhabitants and travelers in the region. It is said to inhabit the southern Gobi Desert where it terrorizes travelers with its deadly abilities to project acid that, upon contact, turns anything it touches yellow and corroded.
Two new sub-species of earthworms, Eisenia nordenskioldi mongol and E. n. onon, are reported from the same region. Although neither of them possesses the fatal characteristics of ...
Urban grass might be greener, but that doesn't mean it's 'greener'
2013-04-09
New research from the University of Cincinnati shows how some things you do to make your lawn green might not be conducive to "going green."
Amy Townsend-Small, a UC assistant professor of geology and geography, will present her research, "Carbon Sequestration and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Urban Ecosystems," at the Association of American Geographers annual meeting to be held April 9-13 in Los Angeles. The interdisciplinary forum is attended by more than 7,000 scientists from around the world and features an array of geography-related presentations, workshops and field ...
Trouble in penguin paradise? UC research analyzes Antarctic ice flow
2013-04-09
University of Cincinnati student Shujie Wang has discovered that a good way to monitor the environmental health of Antarctica is to go with the flow – the ice flow, that is.
It's an important parameter to track because as Antarctica's health goes, so goes the world's.
"The ice sheet in Antarctica is the largest fresh water reservoir on Earth, and if it were totally melted, the sea level would rise by more than 60 meters. So it is quite important to measure the ice mass loss there," says Wang, a doctoral student in geography in UC's McMicken College of Arts & Sciences.
Wang ...
Iceman Ötzi had bad teeth
2013-04-09
The Neolithic mummy Ötzi (approximately 3300 BC) displays an astoundingly large number of oral diseases and dentition problems that are still widespread today. As Prof. Frank Rühli, head of the study, explains, Ötzi suffered from heavy dental abrasions, had several carious lesions – some severe – and had mechanical trauma to one of his front teeth which was probably due to an accident.
Although research has been underway on this important mummy for over 20 years now, the teeth had scarcely been examined. Dentist Roger Seiler from the Centre for Evolutionary Medicine at ...
Pioneering study calculates Arctic Ocean nutrient budget
2013-04-09
The first study of its kind to calculate the amount of nutrients entering and leaving the Arctic Ocean has been carried out by scientists based at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.
Their results, which are published this month in the Journal of Geophysical Research, show that there is a mismatch between what goes into the Arctic Ocean and what comes out.
This is the first study to look at the transport of dissolved inorganic nutrients nitrate, phosphate and silicate together, all of which are essential for life in the ocean. The study combined measurements ...
Satellite sandwich technique improves analysis of geographical data
2013-04-09
Combining parallel data from separate satellites can be like trying to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
For the sandwich, you want rich and sweet flavors, blended into a smooth, creamy texture – and you want it all in one convenient package. That's similar to how you want the satellite data, and Bo Yang, a University of Cincinnati graduate student in geography, has a formula for crafting a deeply informative and easily utilized satellite sandwich.
He'll present his research, "Spatiotemporal Cokriging Images Fusion of Multi-Sensor Land Surface Temperature over ...
New study shows meditating before lecture leads to better grades
2013-04-09
Practicing a little Zen before class can lead to better grades, according to a new experimental study by George Mason University professor Robert Youmans and University of Illinois doctoral student Jared Ramsburg.
The pair of researchers conducted three classroom experiments at a California university to see if meditation might help students focus better and retain information. A random selection of students followed basic meditation instructions before a lecture, and the students who meditated before the lecture scored better on a quiz that followed than students who ...
Chronic pain ranks well below drug addiction as a major health problem in new poll
2013-04-09
ALEXANDRIA, Va.—April 9, 2013—A new national public opinion poll commissioned by Research!America shows only 18% of respondents believe chronic pain is a major health problem, even though a majority of Americans (63%) say they know someone who experienced pain so severe that they sought prescription medicines to treat it. Chronic pain conditions affect about 100 million U.S. adults at a cost of approximately $600 billion annually in direct medical treatment costs and lost productivity.
Most Americans are concerned about the misuse of pain medication to treat chronic ...
Do you get what you pay for? It depends on your culture
2013-04-09
Consumers from less individualistic cultures are more likely to judge the quality of a product by its price, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
"Culture influences the tendency to use the price of a product to judge its quality. Although price-quality judgments are made by consumers across cultures, less individualistic consumers (Koreans, Japanese, Indians, Chinese) rely more on price to judge quality than do individualists (Americans, British, French, Canadians, Australians)," write authors Ashok K. Lalwani (Indiana University) and Sharon ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Semaglutide treats liver disease in two thirds of patients
Gene therapy restores immune function and extends lives of children with rare immune disorder
VCU-led research highlights semaglutide’s potential for treating fatty liver disease
Does your biological age affect your risk of dementia?
Research collaboration charts global four-stage evolution of inflammatory bowel disease
Ecological Society of America announces 2025 Fellows
Critically endangered axolotls bred in captivity appear able to survive release into both artificial and restored Mexican wetlands, but may need specific temperatures to thrive
Tunnel vision during planning can lead us to neglect negative consequences, but this cognitive bias can be addressed by simply prompting people to explicitly consider them
2.1 kids per woman might not be enough for population survival
New “hidden in plain sight” facial and eye biomarkers for tinnitus severity could unlock path to testing treatments
“Explainable” AI cracks secret language of sticky proteins
Setting, acute reaction and mental health history shape ayahuasca's longer-term psychological effects
National-Level Actions Effective at Tackling Antibiotic Resistance
Machine learning brings new insights to cell’s role in addiction, relapse
The duke mouse brain atlas will accelerate studies of neurological disorders
In VR school, fish teach robots
Every action counts: Global study shows countries can reverse increasing antibiotic resistance
Hiding in plain sight: Researchers uncover the prevalence of ‘curiosity’ virus
Fusion energy: ITER completes world’s largest and most powerful pulsed magnet system with major components built by USA, Russia, Europe, China
New study unlocks how root cells sense and adapt to soil
Landmark experiment sheds new light on the origins of consciousness
Nicotine pouch and e-cigarette use and co-use among U.S. youths
Wildfire smoke exposure and cause-specific hospitalization in older adults
Mechanism by which the brain weighs positive vs. negative social experience is revealed
Use of nicotine pouches increases significantly among US teens
In two decades increasing urban vegetation could have saved over 1.1 million lives
Mindfulness therapy reduces opioid craving and addiction, study finds
Stronger and safer: New design strategy for aluminium combines strength with hydrogen embrittlement resistance
Researchers solve one of Earth's ancient volcanic mysteries
Existing treatments may help fight symptoms of severe form of muscular dystrophy, new research suggests
[Press-News.org] Striped like a badger -- new genus of bat identified in South SudanThe rare specimen was discovered by researchers from Bucknell University and Fauna & Flora International while conducting field research with wildlife authorities in South Sudan