Rare leaf-nosed bats sighted after 37 yrs

Rare leaf-nosed bats sighted after 37 yrs JODHPUR: With an extinction record of 37 years, an specie of the bats aboriginal(आदिवासी)  to the Thar desert, has been re-sighted by a group of zoological researchers. Identified as Hipposideros Fulvus (a leaf-nosed bat), the bat has been found roosting(बैठना)  in ancient caves(प्राचीन गुफाओं) at Daijar near Jodhpur. The colony was found during

a routine sighting survey in these caves in October, 2015 at the onset(शुरुआत)  of winter and its presence was reconfirmed in three successive surveys, the last being on in March 2016.

According to Sumit Dookia, an assistant professor at the University School of Environment Management (Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi), a thorough search inside the cave and its channels revealed the presence of more than 20 individuals of leaf-nosed bats in a separate chamber in one of the closed channels, the characteristic examination of which indicated their being from Hipposideridae family.

"One male individual was collected and preserved for further analysis of the baculum (स्तंभास्थि) and DNA, which revealed their identity as the extinct Fulvous Leaf Nosed Bat, a medium to small species of bicolor group of the genus Hipposideros with characteristically very large ears, the tips of which are broadly rounded," Dookia said