Long-eared species feared extinct for 55 years rediscovered in Turkmenistan
-C.DietzD85_1210__fitted.jpeg "The Turkestan long-eared bat, not seen for 55 years, has been rediscovered in the Karakum Desert, researchers said.")
In October, a team of international researchers set out in search of a creature not observed since 1970.
Scientists from Germany, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan embarked on an expedition to the Karakum Desert, the only known habitat of the Turkestan long-eared bat, according to a Nov. 4 news release from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin.
After reviewing Turkmenistan’s bat populations, scientists gave the species top research priority due to the extremely limited knowledge available and fears that it could now be extinct.
The species is known only from a few museum specimens and has never been photographed or described alive — until now.
As the team scoured the desert habitat which spans the border regions of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, they discovered a young female Turkestan long-eared bat hidden in a crevice.
-C.DietzD85_0923%20(1).jpg "PM-Plecotus-turkmenicus-(c)-C.DietzD85_0923 (1).jpg")
Shortly after, an adult male was seen in a cave 54 miles away near the border of Uzbekistan, experts said. The sightings mark the species rediscovery after a 55-year absence.
Researchers also captured the first audio, video and image materials of the species, according to the release.
Experts said the Turkestan long-earned bat is likely endangered, facing threats of an increasingly hotter, drier desert caused by climate change.
“The natural vegetation cover is steadily declining, and the already limited habitat of the species is shrinking further,” researchers said.
Turkmen government plans to establish a protected area covering 50,000 hectares in the Karakum Desert that will benefit the long-eared bat and other vulnerable species in the region, experts said.
