‘Yoda Bat’ from Papua New Guinea Gets Official Name

A newly discovered species of fruit bat — previously nicknamed ‘Yoda bat’ — has an official name: the happy tube-nosed fruit bat (Nyctimene wrightae).

The happy tube-nosed fruit bat (Nyctimene wrightae): female with young pup attached, showing characteristic long ears with thickened edge and short, brown hair. Image credit: Debra Wright.

The happy tube-nosed fruit bat (Nyctimene wrightae): female with young pup attached, showing characteristic long ears with thickened edge and short, brown hair. Image credit: Debra Wright.

The newfound species belongs to Nyctimeninae (tube-nosed fruit bats), a distinctive subfamily of Pteropodidae, currently represented by 18 species and two genera, Nyctimene (16 species) and Paranyctimene (2 species).

The subfamily is distributed throughout the rainforests of Wallacea (including the Philippines), New Guinea and its islands, to southeastern Australia and the Solomon Islands.

Nyctimeninae were one of the first bat species described in records dating back to 1769, and later in 1860 Alfred Russel Wallace — British naturalist and one of the fathers of evolution — collected two further species.

The bats’ tube noses, bright colors, thick stripe on the back and spots have attracted attention for some 250 years, but biologists are still finding new hidden species in the group.

“The happy tube-nosed fruit bat is very difficult to tell apart from other tube-nosed bat species,” said Dr. Nancy Irwin, a researcher at the University of York, UK, and author of a paper published in the Records of the Australian Museum.

“Bat species often look similar to each other, but differ significantly in behavior, feeding and history.”

“Most of the morphological characteristics that separate this bat from other species are associated with a broader, rounder jaw which gives the appearance of a constant smile.”

The happy tube-nosed fruit bat is widespread from lowland to montane forest of New Guinea.

“Since most remote Papuans have never seen Star Wars, I thought it fitting to use a local name: the Hamamas (meaning ‘happy’) tube-nosed fruit bat,” Dr. Irwin explained.

“Its formal name honors conservationist Dr. Deb Wright, who devoted 20 years to building conservation programs and long-term scientific capacity in Papua New Guinea.”

_____

Nancy Irwin. 2017. A new tube-nosed fruit bat from New Guinea, Nyctimene wrightae sp. nov., a re-diagnosis of N. certans and N. cyclotis (Pteropodidae: Chiroptera), and a review of their conservation status. Records of the Australian Museum 69 (2): 73-100; doi: 10.3853/j.2201-4349.69.2017.1654

About Skype

Check Also

, Google Bard AI With a Google Search, #Bizwhiznetwork.com Innovation ΛI

Google Bard AI With a Google Search

Google wasted no time releasing its Bard AI chatbot in early 2023 following the reveal …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Bizwhiznetwork Consultation