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Two newfound coinage of bats recently let on in Kenya are endear , lemon - colour fuzzballs . But scientist are n’t interested in these bats just for their trashy colors ; the animals also provide of import clue about some very involved branches in the bat family tree .
Bats in the genusScotophilus(skuh - TOE - filling - us ) , also known as African yellow house bats , last close to humans , typically draw close in the eaves and rafters of people ’s homes . scientist discovered the firstScotophilusspecies well-nigh 200 years ago ; since then , 21 species have been line across Africa and Southeast Asia , with 13 coinage native to the African continent — but the identification number of African species could be as high as 15 , researcher reported in a new study . [ Flying mammal : Gallery of Spooky Bats ]
Who’s a fuzzy, yellow sky puppy? THIS GUY.
And they are n’t all dress out in icteric ; theseinsect - eatingbats , which can consider up to 3 ounces ( 85 g ) , have bellies tinted in a range of colors , from white to brown to an orange - atomic number 79 , study co - author Bruce Patterson , the MacArthur conservator of mammals at the Field Museum of Natural History ( FMNH ) in Chicago , enjoin Live Science .
But because differentScotophilusspecies can calculate very much likewise , determining where the unlike species are found and how many mintage inhabit a given region has been difficult , lead study author Terrence Demos , a postdoctoral researcher with FMNH ’s Integrative Research Center , assure Live Science in an electronic mail .
To complicate things even further , some of the known bat species were givenscientific namesdespite having uncompleted analyses , and other species received duplicate names , Patterson explained .
Fur color inScotophilusbats can range from light brown to vibrant orange.
The researchers gathered deoxyribonucleic acid from skin samples taken from bats in Kenya , using their data to organize make out mintage and race ( population that are genetically similar , but geographically quarantined ) . In addition to unraveling some of the knotty relationships among African yellow firm chiropteran , their analysis uncovered two previously strange metal money , the author wrote in the field .
base on their discoveries about this diverse , understudied chemical group , further DNA tests across a all-inclusive samplingof batscould reveal even more new coinage of chickenhearted theater bats distributed over the continent , Demos added .
The findings were publish online July 11 in the journalFrontiers in Evolution and Ecology .
Original clause onLive Science .
