India’s bat species count has increased to 136 with the first record of the golden-haired tube-nosed bat (Harpiola isodon) in the country. The species, notable for its golden-tipped hairs and distinctive tube-shaped nostrils, has a forearm length of 32 to 36 millimetres.

The discovery, published in the latest issue of the zoological journal Zootaxa, was based on morphometric and genetic studies of a specimen captured in March this year at Hmuifang village in Aizawl district. The research was led by Uttam Saikia of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Shillong, in collaboration with Gabor Csorba from the Hungarian Natural History Museum, Manuel Ruedi from the Natural History Museum of Geneva, and Rohit Chakravarty of the Nature Conservation Foundation.

The team also examined an archival specimen collected earlier from Sairep village in Lunglei district and preserved at ZSI Kolkata, confirming it belonged to Harpiola isodon.

First discovered in Taiwan in 2006, the species has also been reported in southern China and Vietnam. Experts suggest it may inhabit other Southeast Asian countries, including Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar. Its identification in Mizoram extends its known range westward by over 1,000 km.

ZSI director Dhriti Banerjee said the discovery highlights the need for more extensive bat research in Northeast India, a region overlapping two global biodiversity hotspots.