Sometimes scientists need years to determine the exact status of an animal species. This happened to bats caught by Bonn zoologist Jan Decher and his team during an environmental impact assessment in 2008 in a rainforest in Guinea. These animals have now been described by a group of authors from Bonn and Eswatini as part of a revision as a new genus and species Parahypsugo happoldorum. The new species is named in honor of David and Meredith Happold, both of whom have written important works on bats in Africa and much of the 6-volume standard work "The Mammals of Africa" (2013). Under the new genus, a total of four species are defined. Now they could be defined for the first time by morphological and genetic characteristics. All species are restricted to rainforests of West and Central Africa.
Photos:
Head of Parahypsugo happoldorum Hutterer, Decher, Monadjem & Astrin, 2019. Foto © J. Decher 2009.
David und Meredith Happold, Australian zoologists. Photo © J. Decher 2015.
