Bizarre-Looking Bat Thought to Be Lost Species Is Rediscovered

A specimen of a crazy-looking bat that had not been seen in four decades—and was listed as critically endangered—has been found in Rwanda. Scientists weren’t even sure that the Hill’s horseshoe bat even existed before one was captured during a 10-day expedition. “Going into this project we feared the species may have already gone extinct. Rediscovering Hill’s horseshoe bat was incredible—it’s astonishing to think that we’re the first people to see this bat in so long,” Dr. Jon Flanders of Bat Conservation International said in a statement. “We knew immediately that the bat we had captured was unusual and remarkable. The facial features were exaggerated to the point of comical,” Dr. Winifred Frick of BCI added.