Researchers have new hope for the future of an endangered species of bat after two of the flying mammals traveled 110 miles to a Welsh cave to live.
While two members of the Greater Horseshoe bat species initially resided in the British county of Gloucestershire, both animals traveled 110 miles, years apart, to recently find themselves together in a cave in northern Wales, The Telegraph said Wednesday.
Bat researcher David Priddis said while the chance the bats somehow initiated the remarkable reunion appears slim, one cannot overlook the animals' amazing abilities.
"It is not too far-fetched to say they found each other because bats have very complicated, sophisticated sonar systems way above our hearing and the Greater Horseshoe's is higher than most," Priddis said.
Priddis added that while the winged animals have since begun cohabitating in the cave in Wales' Conwy Valley, the female bat's young age will delay any potential mating with her male counterpart.
Nonetheless, experts are encouraged by a potential mating pair of the bats, whose species has grown endangered throughout most of Britain.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International
Related stories:
Researchers investigate mass bat deaths
First it was bees that were mysteriously dying. Now it's bats.
Fossils excavated from Bahamian blue hole may give clues of early life
ong before tourists arrived in the Bahamas, ancient visitors took up residence in this archipelago off Florida’s coast and left remains offering stark evidence that the arrival of humans can permanently change -- and eliminate -- life on what had been isolated islands, says a University of Florida researcher.
Gray bats may be making a comeback
Researchers say a species of bat once near extinction may be thriving in two Tennessee caves.
Study: DNA barcoding in danger of 'ringing up' wrong species
DNA barcoding is a movement to catalog all life on earth by a simple standardized genetic tag, similar to stores labeling products with unique barcodes. The effort promises foolproof food inspection, improved border security, and better defenses against disease-causing insects, among many other applications.
Glow worms glimmer on cue
(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Queensland researcher and lecturer Dr David Merritt has discovered Tasmanian cave glow-worms are energy conservationists: they switch their lights off at night-time.
Rock art marks transformations in traditional Peruvian societies
Peru is one of the Latin American countries, like Argentina and Brazil, where rock art is thought to have developed throughout a period stretching from 10,000 BC to 1500 AD. The wealth and diversity of the series of pictorial representations made during this period are now beginning to be appreciated by archaeologists. Recent investigations by an IRD researcher has given insights into the daily lives of human communities who lived in the coastal and mountainous areas of Peru during that era.
Piecing Together an Extinct Lemur, Large as a Big Baboon
Penn State researchers have used computed tomography (CT) technology to virtually glue newly-discovered skull fragments of a rare extinct lemur back into its partial skull, which was discovered over a century ago. Alan Walker, Evan Pugh Professor of Anthropology and Biology at Penn State, and Research Associate in Anthropology Timothy Ryan, led the research.
Plague of kangaroos threatens one of Australia's last remaining original native grasslands
Australian Department of Defence is currently culling hundreds of kangaroos on the outskirts of the capital Canberra that have produced heated discussions and hit international headlines. Australia's iconic animal has multiplied so much over recent years that Canberra now has three times as many kangaroos as inhabitants. The situation is particularly critical at two enclosed military sites on the outskirts of the city, which form an ideal refuge for the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus).