Just in time for Halloween, researchers from the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), the Field Museum in Chicago, and Lawrence University in Wisconsin have announced the discovery of six new species of bats. These newly identified species, all found in the Philippines, belong to the group known as tube-nosed bats—a fascinating and diverse branch of the mammal family tree.

Expanding the Tree of Life

Formally recognized as new species through morphological and genetic analysis, this discovery expands the already impressive global diversity of bats.

“This latest research serves to illustrate how much remains unknown about the countless species with which we coexist,” says Dr. Judith Eger, Curator Emeritus of Mammals at ROM. “Expanding our knowledge of biodiversity is essential to understanding and managing our environment on behalf of humanity and the other species on which the vitality of our planet depends.”

A Blend of Science and Folklore

While Halloween celebrations in the Philippines are relatively modest compared to North America, bats hold a unique place in Filipino folklore. The mythical aswang, a shape-shifting creature from local legends, is said to have been inspired by flying fox bats—the world’s largest bats. Globally, bats occupy various symbolic roles, representing good luck in China, fortune in India, and even deities in Guatemala and Mexico.

Revealing Hidden Diversity

“I’m astonished at how much we still don’t know about the natural world, such as how many bat species there are,” says Dr. Burton Lim, Assistant Curator of Mammals at ROM. “Before we started our research, there were only two species of tube-nosed bats reported from the Philippines. We confirmed the presence of one of those species, plus another closely related species previously unknown to science. The other previously reported species was actually not present in the Philippines, but we did find five new species that were masquerading as it!”

The six newly named species — Murina alvarezi, Murina baletei, Murina hilonghilong, Murina luzonensis, Murina mindorensis, and Murina philippinensis — were identified through careful comparisons of tooth patterns, skull shapes, fur coloration, and genetic sequences conducted in ROM’s Laboratory of Molecular Systematics.

Importance of Bat Biodiversity

Bats are found on every continent except Antarctica and serve crucial ecological functions such as insect control, pollination, and seed dispersal. The tube-nosed bats (genus Murina) of Asia rely heavily on forest habitats, making them particularly vulnerable to deforestation.
The Philippines, a biodiversity hotspot composed of thousands of islands, was already home to 79 known bat species—a number that now rises with this discovery.

A Legacy of Research and Discovery

The ROM’s extensive bat collection, one of the world’s largest, includes dried skins, skeletal remains, ethanol-preserved samples, and over 15,000 frozen tissue specimens from 30 countries. This resource has been vital in revealing how Philippine Murina bats differ from their Southeast Asian relatives.
The team’s findings are now published in Zootaxa, an international journal of animal taxonomy, and corresponding genetic data have been archived in GenBank for future research.

“It has been a long and slow process of discovery, but these six previously unknown species show clearly just how wonderfully extensive Philippine biodiversity is,” says Dr. Lawrence Heaney, Curator Emeritus of Mammals at the Field Museum. “On a per-unit-area basis, the Philippines has the most distinctive mammal fauna of any country worldwide.”

Years in the Making

The specimens, all small bats weighing between 4 and 14 grams, were collected over decades of expeditions led by the Field Museum, in collaboration with the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Protected Area Management Boards.

“These bats are notoriously elusive, so the tube-nosed bat collection this study examined was cobbled together over many years, expeditions, and memorable experiences – one bat at a time,” says Dr. Jodi Sedlock, co-author and Dennis and Charlot Nelson Singleton Professor of Biological Sciences at Lawrence University. “As a result, it’s deeply satisfying to see our collection make such an important contribution to Philippine biodiversity studies. I’m eager to learn what these newly described tube-nosed bats each do with their tube-like nostrils that, presumably, offer them directional smell detection. Describing them is an essential beginning, but there’s still so much to learn!”

Honoring the Scientists Who Came Before

The Field Museum has been conducting collaborative fieldwork in the Philippines for over 30 years as part of the Philippine Mammal Project. Reference specimens (holotypes) from the study are now housed at the National Museum of the Philippines.

Two of the new species honor late Filipino scientists:

• Murina alvarezi, named for James Alvarez, a young bat biologist who tragically died during fieldwork in 2018.
• Murina baletei, named in memory of Danilo “Danny” Balete, a respected biodiversity scientist and long-time collaborator on the Philippine Mammal Project.
  

Original Publication
Authors: JUDITH L. EGER, JODI L. SEDLOCK, BURTON K. LIM and LAWRENCE R. HEANEY.
Journal: Zootaxa
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5691.1.1
Subject of Research: Animals
Article Title: Systematics and biogeography of tube-nosed bats, Murina (Mammalia, Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae), from the Philippines with descriptions of six new species
Article Publication Date: 8-Sep-2025

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