WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. and Brazilian scientists say they've discovered a species of tiny bat on the western slopes of the Andes in Ecuador, where its habitat is under threat.
The first specimen of Myotis diminutus was collected more than 30 years ago but the researchers have only now confirmed that the little creature, which weighs just a few grams, is a distinct species, the BBC reported.
The researchers, writing in the journal Mammalian Biology, said, "As with many other newly described species, we know nothing about the natural history of this bat.
"Unfortunately, the prospects for learning more about it are bleak," they wrote.
The moist forests of western Ecuador where the bat was discovered are under threat, primarily from deforestation for agricultural purposes, the researchers say, and the area faces an "uncertain future."
The tiny bat was found in a protected private reserve within the forest called the Río Palenque Scientific Center.
"Myotis diminutus is at least the fifth new species of mammal described from the area in recent decades," the scientists wrote.
