Thumb-sized bat discovered in volcanic island
30 Jun 2009, 1223 Hrs

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Washington, June 30 Scientists have discovered a unique species of a thumb-sized bat in a volcanic island in Africa's Comoros chain.

According to a report in National Geographic News, weighing just 0.2 ounce (5 grams), the bat is a unique species, as confirmed by a DNA analysis later on.

"Subsequent genetic tests revealed that the bat is also found on the west coast of the island of Madagascar," said study team member Manuel Ruedi, a curator at the Natural History Museum in Geneva, Switzerland.

Since neighboring Madagascar is much older than the Comoros, the team suspects that the moth-size mammal lived on Madagascar before migrating to the Indian Ocean archipelago in the distant past.

"Bat diversity in both the Comoros and Madagascar has been poorly studied," Ruedi said. "But, the latest genetic-testing technology makes it easy to distinguish between bat species that can look very similar," he added. (ANI)

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