From Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea, researchers have described what is officially recognized as the 1,500th bat species known to science, according to a recent study. The newly described bat is a species of pipistrelle, a group of tiny insect-eating bats, and scientists have named it Pipistrellus etula, with etula meaning “island” or “nation” in the language of the Bubi people of Bioko Island.
“The recognition of P. etula as the 1,500th bat species is not only a symbolic scientific milestone but also carries deep conservation significance,” lead author Laura Torrent, a Ph.D. candidate at the Natural Sciences Museum of Granollers, Spain, told Mongabay by email. “It reminds us how much biodiversity remains undocumented, particularly in under-surveyed regions like Central Africa.”
The story of P. etula goes back to 1989, when bat researcher Javier Juste first captured a few individuals of the bat from the montane forest on the slopes of Biao Peak, a volcano on Bioko. At the time, Juste suspected it was an undescribed species, but confirmation would take decades.
During a 2024 expedition, Torrent and her colleagues captured more individuals of what looked like the same bat at Basilé Peak, another volcano on Bioko.
The scientists compared the newly caught bats with the older museum specimens and found they had similar physical features. A genetic analysis of both the old and newly caught bats further confirmed they all belong to the same new-to-science species.
P. etula belongs to a widespread group of bats called vesper, or evening, bats. What makes it unique, Torrent said, is that it lives in montane environments where no other vesper bat recorded from Bioko are known to exist.
“Finding a new species is wonderful, but finding one in remote areas like Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea or hidden in plain sight is incredibly uplifting and illustrates how intriguing nature is,” Paul Webala, a bat researcher from Maasai Mara University, Kenya, who wasn’t involved in the study, told Mongabay by email.
Vesper bats, Webala added, “consume a remarkable quantity of insects that spread disease and harm crops. It is important to study these bats because if we cannot distinguish between species, we cannot record their roles in nature.”
Torrent said the volcanic areas where P. etula has been found so far are in protected zones, but “construction projects and small-scale logging are already altering the landscape.” Rising temperatures caused by climate change could further shrink the species’ montane habitat, she added.
Rohit Chakravarty, a bat researcher with the India-based Nature Conservation Foundation, who wasn’t involved in the study, told Mongabay that because the bat has only been found on mountains on an island, it “indicates that it may not be very widespread and therefore an important conservation target.”
“Now that its existence is confirmed, we will advocate for future conservation measures involving local institutions and government authorities to safeguard these unique ecosystems,” Torrent said.
Banner image of Pipistrellus etula courtesy of Laura Torrent.
This story first appeared on Mongabay
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