OU Prof. discovers new bat species, experts name it after her

HYDERABAD: Eminent zoology scientist from Osmania University Dr Bhargavi Srinivasulu, who discovered a new species of bats, achieved her biggest career high when the species was named ‘Miniopetrus srinii Srini’s Bent-winged Bat’ as a tribute to her amazing finding. I was associated with Osmania University from 1990 onwards.” Meanwhile, Dr Bhargavi and Aditya described this cryptic species of bat based on multiple lines of evidence. We presumed it to be a cryptic species, which we tentatively identified as the small bent-winged bat, Miniopterus pusillus, which is reported from Nicobar Islands, peninsular India, Nepal and the northeast region.” She added, “Our research on Andaman bats revealed that the fauna on the islands are genetically different from those on mainland India. We conducted morphological, cranial, echolocation and genetic studies to determine the relationship between the Makuta specimen and others.” She added “Bent-winged Bats are small-sized bats that live in large colonies of few hundred in caves.