From Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea, researchers have described what is officially recognized as the 1,500th bat species known to science, according to a recent study. The newly described bat is a species of pipistrelle, a group of tiny insect-eating bats, and scientists have named it Pipistrellus etula, with etula meaning “island” or “nation” in the language of the Bubi people of Bioko Island. “The recognition of P. etula as the 1,500th bat species is not only a symbolic scientific milestone but also carries deep conservation significance,” lead author Laura Torrent, a Ph.D. candidate at the Natural Sciences Museum of Granollers, Spain, told Mongabay by email. “It reminds us how much biodiversity remains undocumented, particularly in under-surveyed regions like Central Africa.” The sto

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