MBAM MINKOM SEROTINE: A newly discovered bat species 🦇🦇

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MBAM MINKOM SEROTINE:  A newly discovered bat species.
Written by Taofeeq Babalola

Edited by Uthman Ayoku Oyebamiji


Bats are animals of the order Chiroptera. They are the only mammals capable of actual and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than other birds because their forelimbs have been developed as wings. They fly with their long spread-out digits coated with a thin membrane called Patagium. Bats, the second biggest order of mammals after rodents, account for around 20% of all identified mammal species worldwide, with over 1,400 species. Bats are traditionally classified into two suborders: fruit-eating megabats and echolocating microbats.


Recently, Amanda Grunwald and her colleagues from Portland State University discovered Mbam minkom serotine (Pseudoromicia mbamminkom), a new species of bat found in Cameroon's Mbam mountain. This bat was discovered during a preliminary survey for their research on bat biodiversity patterns at Mt. Mbam in central Cameroon. Amanda and her colleagues from Bat Conservation International (BCI)  named the bat after the Mbam peak. 


A rendition of Mbam Minkom Serotine by Amanda.
Source: Bat Conservation International (BCI) facebook


The bat is thought to be a member of the genus Pseudoromicia, which is part of the Vespertilinidae, the most diversified and extensively dispersed family of bats.

 This family is made up of bat species with tails that are contained by lower flight membranes between the legs. They are insect-eating animals and microbats. Mbam minkom serotine was scientifically termed Pseudoromicia mbamminkom because it morphologically resembles Pseudoromicia species, particularly Pseudoromicia kitoyi, its taxon sister, and Pseudoromicia roseveari. Pseudoromicia brunnea (Darkbrown serotine), Pseudoromicia isabella (Isabellatine serotine), Pseudoromicia nyanza (Nyanza serotine), and Pseudoromicia rendelli P. teniupinnis (Rendelli serotine), P. teniupinnis (White-winged serotine).


Mount Mbam, Cameroon. Source: PeakVisor

 

Mbam minkom serotine discovery adds to Mbam mountain's biodiversity checklist and additionally, it increases the species richness of the mountain. More research is needed, according to BCI, to ascertain the bat's geographical range, which could be limited to the forests of Mt. Mbam Minkom or could have a broader distribution.




Taofeeq Babalola

Student of the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, University of Ibadan 


writer for Wildest Eco 


Comments

  1. Anonymous25 January 2023 at 08:52

    A beautiful step for biodiversity conservation, hopefully more research is done.

    ReplyDelete

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