‘Golden-haired’ creature lured from mountain forest is the first seen in India
On a mountain ridge in eastern India, surrounded by tropical evergreen forests, an acoustic lure echoed through the trees — an attempt by researchers to entice whatever might be living there.
Beyond the lure, a nearly invisible harp net hung in the middle of a forest opening, where a single golden-haired creature was caught.
This “golden jewel” was a Harpiola isodon, or a golden-haired tube-nosed bat, marking the first record of the species in the country, according to a study published Sept. 24 in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa.
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The species was previously known to exist in Taiwan, Vietnam and China, extending its range westward by over 600 miles into South Asia, researchers said.
Researchers said there is a “closer relationship than previously thought between the bat faunas … along the Himalayan, Hengduan, and the Greater Annamites mountain ranges.”
The female specimen was small, with a forearm length of 1.4 inches, according to the study.
It had “long, soft fur with dark brown roots and yellow-brown tips,” according to the study. On its back were other “hairs with shiny golden tips,” researchers said.
The team compared the female specimen to a similar bat caught in Mizoram in 2002. At the time, that specimen was classified as Harpiola grisea, a related species.
However, a comparison between the two revealed nearly identical morphologies, or physical attributes, leading researchers to revise that record as another golden-haired tube-nosed bat, according to the study.
The research team included Uttam Saikia, Manuel Ruedi, Rohit Chakravarty, Manokaran Kamalakannan, Jennifer Lyngdoh, Amlanjyoti Gautam, Rajib Goswami and Gábor Csorba.
This story was originally published September 25, 2025 at 2:48 PM with the headline "‘Golden-haired’ creature lured from mountain forest is the first seen in India."
