{"id":17121,"date":"2025-01-17T12:36:49","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T19:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/?p=17121"},"modified":"2025-01-17T12:38:20","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T19:38:20","slug":"meet-arizonas-new-bat-species","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/01\/17\/meet-arizonas-new-bat-species\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Arizona\u2019s new bat species"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>NEWS RELEASE <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jan. 17, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>PORTAL, Ariz. \u2013 The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) is excited to share that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Bat Conservation International (BCI) have announced the confirmation of Mexican long-nosed bats (<em>Leptonycteris nivalis<\/em>) in southeastern Arizona. The Mexican long-nosed bat, which is now Arizona\u2019s only bat listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, brings the total number of bat species in our state to 29.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cKnowing for sure is exciting,\u201d said Angie McIntire, AZGFD\u2019s statewide bat specialist. \u201cIt\u2019s a species that we thought probably occurred in Arizona, but the scientific breakthroughs that enabled the confirmation of its presence are the real highlight of this story.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Traditionally, biologists would have to catch a bat and have it in hand to identify it. This study, which utilized citizen science and environmental DNA (eDNA), revolutionized the way scientists can learn about animals, their location, and their movement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Residents in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico collected eDNA by swabbing hummingbird feeders for trace amounts of saliva left by bats in the area. The samples were then sent to the \u201cSpecies from Feces\u201d lab at Northern Arizona University that specializes in utilizing non-invasive environmental clues to identify species.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf we were trying to identify the species in the absence of eDNA, biologists could spend hours and hours trying to catch one of these bats, and even then, you\u2019re not guaranteed to be successful,\u201d said McIntire. \u201cBy sampling the environment, eDNA gives us an additional tool for our toolkit, allowing researchers to confirm the presence of this rare species without actually having to catch one in the wild, which can be very difficult.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Adding to the difficulty of identifying the Mexican long-nosed bat is the fact that it\u2019s nearly indistinguishable from its \u201csister species,\u201d the recently delisted lesser long-nosed bat (<em>Leptonycteris yerbabuenae).<\/em>&nbsp;There are some subtle differences between the two \u2014 for example, the Mexican long-nosed bat is slightly larger and prefers somewhat higher elevations in pine-oak habitats \u2014 but eDNA makes differentiating them easy.&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The appearance of this species at hummingbird feeders in southeastern Arizona is a reminder that some bat species can fly great distances at night to find food, and this could possibly indicate an undiscovered roost in the vicinity. The Mexican long-nosed bat primarily feeds on nectar or pollen from at least 49 different species of flowering plants across their range, and many species of Agave in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.batcon.org\/press\/mexican-long-nosed-bats-discovered-in-arizona\/?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=govdelivery\">Read more about this project and exciting discovery in the Bat Conservation International\u2019s full release<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em>Photo credit: BCI\/Horizonline Pictures<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Confirmation of Mexican long-nosed bats brings state\u2019s bat species count to 29. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":17123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main-site"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Meet Arizona\u2019s new bat species - Arizona Game &amp; 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