Rare golden-haired tube-nosed bat found in Mizoram, tally rises to 136
New finding brings India’s bat species count to 136; scientists stress need for more NE studies
An image of the golden haired tube-nosed bat.
Guwahati, Sept 26: Scientists have reported the golden haired tube-nosed bat from two localities in Mizoram, thus bringing a fresh addition to the bat fauna of India and South Asia as a whole. With this latest addition, the confirmed tally of Indian bat species currently stands at 136.
The findings have been published in the September 25, 2025 edition of zoological megajournal, Zootaxa.
While undertaking a systematic assessment of the bat fauna of Mizoram, bat researcher Dr Uttam Saikia of Zoological Survey of India, Shillong, stumbled upon this rare bat in the forest of Hmuifang village in Aizawl district of Mizoram.
He teamed up with his collaborators, Dr Gabor Csorba of Hungarian Natural History Museum, Dr Manuel Ruedi of Natural History Museum of Geneva, and Dr Rohit Chakravarty of Nature Conservation Foundation for a detailed comparative study of the specimen.
Based on comparative study of specimens held in several museums abroad and DNA analysis of the Mizoram specimen, the team was able to confirm this as the golden haired tube-nosed bat (Harpiola isodon).
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.
Dr Dhriti Banerjee, Director of Zoological Survey of India, noted that this finding only underscores the need for further studies in the North Eastern region of India, a region encompassing two global biodiversity hotspots.