NIUMBAHA SUPERBA: A BEAUTIFUL BAT
The newly discovered bat is striking. It has a furry body with black and white markings and a sweet face, reminiscent of a panda, with the pudgy nose of a pug. It was found at the Bangangai Game Reserve in South Sudan by a group of researchers from Bucknell University, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Islamic University in Uganda. They reported their discovery in the online scientific journal, ZooKeys.
The cranial characters, wings, size, and markings of the beautiful bat were unlike any other known species. Also known as the Pied Bat, it is a new genus: Niumbaha, which means “rare” or “unusual” in Zande, one of the local languages of South Sudan.
(Photo: Dr. DeeAnn Reeder)
Bats have long been associated with darkness. Some still believe they are bad omens. But we now know bats make life more beautiful. A single little brown bat can eat up to 1,000 mosquitoes in one hour. A colony of big brown bats can protect local farmers from up to 33 million rootworms each summer. From fruits to nuts, many of our food crops rely on bats for pollination and seed dispersal. Yet many bat populations are in peril, as environmental changes take them down. We need to pay attention. No bats, no margaritas. Without bats to pollinate agave plants, their seed production dries up, and so does our tequila supply. And that’s simply not acceptable. Perhaps we can enlist the newly discovered niumbaha superba as a beautiful ambassador for bat-kind?
(Photo: Dr. DeeAnn Reeder)
Bucknell University Associate Professor of Biology, Dr. DeeAnn Reeder expressed her exuberance over the discovery, “I knew the second I saw it that it was the find of a lifetime.”
We love finding undiscovered beauty like this. However familiar the world may seem, there are always hidden wonders waiting in every corners.
(Photo: Dr. DeeAnn Reeder)
