If you’re ever in danger of falling off the face of the earth, remember the fact that there is only 8% of the forests of Madagascar left, for now, and that habitat loss continues at a steady rate.

That should ground you pretty darn quick.

You may not have known this, but I’m sort of a bat aficionado. The only other place I know that these sorts of “sucker-footed” or disk-winged species live is in the Carribean, so this is indeed an important find. I believe that Madagascar is also home to some of the largest bats in the world–a few species of fruit bats or flying foxes– with wingspans of 4-6 feet. It looks like one of the main things that may save these new disk-winged bats from endangerment is that the are insectivorus, and aren’t as much bothered by the disappearance of massive numbers of fruit-bearing trees on the island.

Best,

Greg Bishop
UFOmystic

Currently the article is listed as “in press” meaning that it has not been assigned to a specific issue of the journal as of yet.

That said, it is still a peer-reviewed piece.

Craig Heinselman
Peterborough, NH