After 55 years missing from the Karakum Desert, it was suspected that the Turkestan long-eared bat ( Plecotus turkmenicus ) had likely gone extinct or become very rare. Nobody had seen the species since 1970 and there were no photos or recent descriptions to suggest otherwise. Until now. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

Only known from a few specimens found in Russian museums, in October the Turkestan long-eared bat became the focus of an international research trip where the team – made up of researchers from Germany, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan and led by the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin – visited historical sites within Turkmenistan that had been known to have the species there in the past.

After searching the a

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