Guwahati, Sept 24: A team led by scientists led by Dr Uttam Saikia of Zoological Survey of India, Shillong has found the golden-haired tube-nosed bat for the first time in the country from Mizoram.
The finding, published in the journal Zootaxa, extends the species’ range by more than 1,000 kilometres into India.
The golden-haired tube-nosed bat (Harpiola isodon) is a small, rare species of bat belonging to the family Vespertilionidae (the evening bats). It is known for its distinctive tube-shaped nostrils and its golden-yellow fur, which makes it visually striking compared to many other bat species.
It was earlier known only from parts of Southeast Asia and China. Until now, India was thought to host only its close relative, Harpiola grisea, restricted to the western Himalayas. Dr. Saikia captured this unusual bat in the forests of the Hmuifang area of Aizawl district. Based on morphometric and DNA studies of the Indian specimen, along with comparative analyses of specimens from Taiwan and China, he and his international collaborators reassigned earlier records from Mizoram — previously attributed to H. grisea — to H. isodon. The other collaborators are Gabor Csorba from Hungarian Natural History Museum, Manuel Ruedi from Natural History Museum of Geneva and Rohit Chakravarty of Nature Conservation Foundation.
The scientists also examined another old specimen from Sairep village in Lunglei district of Mizoram in the collection of Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata and came to the conclusion that it also belongs to the currently reported species. It is worth mentioning that Golden haired tube-nosed bat was first discovered in the mountainous region of Taiwan in 2006 and since then has also been reported from a few localities in Southern China and Vietnam.
“This finding highlights the extraordinary bat diversity of Northeast India,” the researchers wrote, noting that the region remains poorly studied despite being a biodiversity hotspot.
The study provides the first detailed morphometric data on H. isodon across its distribution range and also describes its echolocation call. According to the authors, integrative taxonomy — combining traditional methods with genetic tools — will be vital for documenting and conserving the region’s mammal diversity.
Dr. Saikia and his team has been intensively studying the bat fauna of the Indian Himalayas for over the last decade and has discovered several new species and new records to the bat fauna of India in recent times. Dr. Dhriti Banerjee, Director of Zoological Survey of India noted that this finding only underscore the need for further studies in the northeastern region of India, a region encompassing two global biodiversity hotspots. With this current addition, the confirmed tally of Indian bat species currently stands at 136, she added.
Bats are crucial for ecosystems, providing services such as pollination, seed dispersal, and insect control. Yet they are often overlooked in research and conservation. The presence of the golden-haired tube-nosed bat in Mizoram adds to India’s list of rare mammals and underlines the need to safeguard habitats that harbour such species.
For India’s bat researchers, the golden-haired bat is more than a scientific record — it is a reminder that the country’s forests continue to hold surprises waiting to be discovered.
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