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Researchers have discovered a new species of orange and black bats in West Africa.

When all you hear are gloomy stories about extinction, it’s a breath of fresh air to find that researchers have discovered a new bat species in West Africa.

What’s even more promising about this discovery is the way these researchers stumbled upon the bats. 

An EcoWatch report has some details about how this discovery came about. 

”One especially important bat species is the Lamotte's roundleaf bat, or Hipposideros lamottei, which lives only in the Nimba Mountains, and especially in abandoned mineshafts known as adits. But while trapping for the existing species, the scientists found something they did not expect.”

What’s amazing is that these orange and black bats seem to be so unique and yet nobody in the area had paid too much attention to them. 

With discoveries like these, it gives conservationists a lot more ammunition when calling for additional protections. One reason they are so important to nature is that they play a critical role as pollinators and seed spreaders. 

And let’s not forget that they take care of a huge amount of pests as well.

It does raise the question of how many other wildlife species are out there waiting to be discovered.


Chris is one of GreenCitizen’s writers who has been a long-time advocate of individual responsibility when it comes to the environment. He shares GreenCitizen's passion for making the world a better place every day of the year.

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