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UFS biologists discover new tiny, white-thumbed bat species from Eswatini

13 October 2022 | Story NONSINDISO QWABE | Photo Rio Button

The Lowveld serotine bat, named Neoromicia hlandzeni.

Biological expeditions to the unexplored central highlands of Angola between 2016 and 2019 led to the discovery of a new tiny, white-thumbed bat species from Eswatini by Prof Peter John Taylor from the UFS Department of Zoology and Entomology and the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU), together with colleagues from the University of Eswatini (UNESWA) and other collaborators.

The bat species, named Neoromicia hlandzeni or the Lowveld serotine bat – after the Lowveld of Eswatini (eHlandzeni) – is the first new animal species to be discovered in Eswatini and given a siSwati name. The Lowveld serotine bat is tiny at four grams, has a distinctive white thumb pad, and occurs in Eswatini, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.

Bats make up a quarter of all mammalian biodiversity. With modern technology and the exploration of previously inaccessible regions of Africa, the rate of discovery of both animal and plant species is accelerating.

According to Prof Taylor, the Lowveld serotine bat is a new species to science. The specimen from which the species was named was collected in the lowlands of Eswatini in 2005. “Later collections of bats from the highlands of Angola, undertaken by myself and students, revealed the fact that the highland and lowland forms were actually different species. Since there was already a name for the highland bat, we needed to find a new name for the lowland bat from Eswatini and South Africa, hence it is called the Lowveld serotine bat,” he said.

The importance of integrative taxonomy, local collaboration, and biodiversity surveys

Prof Taylor is a research fellow of the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, and the bat discovery took place during expeditions under the patronage of the Angolan government, the Wild Bird Trust, and the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project. He said the aim of the expedition was to explore the plants and animals of a wilderness area (the source of the Okavango) that had not been explored before.

The discovery also led to their paper being published in the scientific journal, the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, this month.

The publication, titled Integrative taxonomic analysis of new collections from the central Angolan highlands resolves the taxonomy of African pipistrelloid bats on a continental scale, showcases the importance of integrative taxonomy, local collaboration, and biodiversity surveys, as the description of this exciting new species would not have been possible without comparative genetic and morphological material from new collections in the poorly sampled central highlands of Angola.

Prof Peter Taylor with his students, Veli Mdluli and Alexandra Howard, working on bat research. Howard was one of the co-authors of the paper. (Photo: Supplied)

Afromontane regions as hotspots of bat speciation, diversity, and micro-endemism

Although Prof Taylor is the first author to describe this new species, the work was done with a multidisciplinary team of colleagues, students, and collaborators from the UFS, UNESWA, the University of Pretoria, the University of Venda, and Stellenbosch University, as well as the Durban Natural Science Museum and the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, with support from the Angolan government, the Wild Bird Trust, and the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project.

“Describing a new species is an arduous task that can take years from discovery to publication. All the enormous collective efforts have shown the importance of collaborative biodiversity exploration using old and modern technologies, as well as the African ownership of this discovery,” Prof Taylor said.

Three of Prof Taylor's previous and current PhD students – all of them South African women – were part of this discovery process and are co-authors of the paper. All 14 co-authors in the team are African. Prof Taylor said the discovery adds a new species to the total bat list of 125 species for Southern Africa – at number 126.

News Archive

Student leaders 2012/13 announced

2012-08-30

Ready for the task - Sabelo Khumalo, SRC President of the Qwaqwa Campus and William Clayton, SRC President of the Bloemfontein Campus.
Photo: Johan Roux
31 August 2012

The 2012/13 elections for the Student Representative Councils (SRC) of the University of the Free State were completed successfully and show meaningful support for the changes in student governance adopted by students across campuses over the past two years.

The SRC elections at the Qwaqwa Campus were completed on 23 August 2012, while the elections at our Bloemfontein Campus took place on 27 and 28 August 2012.

The SRC Elections at our Bloemfontein Campus showed a voter turnout of 4516 votes (30.8%), with the elections at the Qwaqwa Campuses showing 1753 votes (46%) – both campuses reached the required quorums and the IEA (Bloemfontein Campus) and IEC (Qwaqwa Campus) declared the elections free and fair and announced the results as a true reflection of the will of the student bodies at the campuses.

The full SRC at Bloemfontein Campus now consists of 62% black and 38% white, and 53% female and 47% male members.

In the Qwaqwa elections, SADESMO achieved 46, 38% of the vote, with SASCO, PASMA and NASMO each achieving 30,23% and 8,39% and 14,26%, respectively.

The successful elections at Bloemfontein Campus show that the detailed transformation of student governance introduced by students at the Campus in 2010 and adopted by the university in 2011, succeeded in mobilizing greater participation of students in governance and representation. These changes in the main included a shift to independent candidacy for elective portfolios (12 seats) and organizational candidacy in nine sub-councils that holds ex officio seats on the SRC. Changes also included the establishment of student representative seats in faculty governance and management forums and the adoption of a reviewed Central SRC Constitution. Ex officio seats hold full and equal constitutional authority in the SRC.

Students at Qwaqwa Campus introduced additional portfolios to its SRC, including ex-officio seats for academic affairs, arts and culture, commuter students, Rag Community Service, religious affairs, residences and sports.

A joint sitting of the Campus SRCs will establish the Central SRC 2012/13 on 9 September 2012.

As a further opportunity for participation in and the development of student governance and representation, the current Central SRC herewith also announces its recent adoption of a student governance advisory programme, namely the UFS Student Elders Council (SEC).

The SEC is established as a combined programme between the Central SRC and the Dean of Student Affairs and will consist of selected senior student leaders from all campuses who completed their terms of office, apply and are appointed to the Elders Council by the Central SRC.

The Council will serve as an advisory structure to the Central SRC and other student structures in support of the continuous development of student governance and representation of the student body at the university.

The SEC will advise the Central SRC to be constituted following the constitution of the respective Campus SRCs.

The SRC members at the Bloemfontein Campus are:

President: Mr William Clayton

Vice-President: Mr Bonolo Thebe

Secretary: Ms Karis-Robin Topkin

Treasurer: Mr Pieter Coetzee

Arts & Culture: Ms Chanmari Erasmus

Accessibility & Student Support: Ms Gene McCaskill

First-generation Students: Ms Tanya Calitz

Legal and Constitutional Affairs: Ms Nokuthula Sithole

Media, Marketing & Liaison: Ms Neo Chere

Sport: Mr Tshepo Moloi

Student Development & Environmental Affairs: Ms Thabisile Mgadi

Transformation: Ms Koketso Mofokeng

Dialogue & Ex officio: Associations Council: Mr Anesu Ruswa

Academic Affairs & Ex officio: Academic Affairs Council: Ms Nombuso Ndlovu

Residence Affairs & Ex officio: Residences Council: Mr Johann Steyn

City Residence Affairs & Ex officio: Commuter Council: Mr Michael van Niekerk

Postgraduate Affairs & Ex officio: Postgraduate Council: Mr Fadeyi Akinsuyi

International Affairs & Ex officio: International Council: Ms Tumelo Moreri

Student Media Affairs & Ex officio: Media Council: Mr Jamal-Dean Grootboom

RAG Community Service & Ex officio: RAG Fundraising Council: Mr Jaco Faul

RAG Community Service & Ex officio: RAG Community Service Council: Ms Keneue Mahloana

The SRC members at the Qwaqwa Campus are:

President General: Mr S Khumalo

Deputy President: Mr P T Lenka

Secretary General: Mr D Khethang

Treasurer General: Mr S I Sithole

Media & Publicity: Mr S N Ntombela

Politics & Transformation: Tbc

Student Development & Evironmental Affairs: Tbc Academic Affairs: Mr T Molawude

Arts & Cultural Affairs: Mr T Nkohli

Off-Campus Students: Mr B Mtshali

RAG, Community Service & Dialogue: Ms S F Mlotya

Religious Affairs: Ms D C Khau

Residence & Catering Affairs: Ms Z Mzolo

Sports Council: Mr S Mngomezulu

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