´óÏó´«Ã½

Scientists have found a new species of bat in a mountain range in West Africa.

Discovered by scientists led by the American Museum of Natural History and Bat Conversation Intentional, the bat is strikingly different in appearance - it has bright orange fur.

Winifred Frick, Chief Scientist of Bat Conservation said: "In an age of extinction, a discovery like this offers a glimmer of hope."

Researchers expect that the new species of bat is likely to be critically endangered.

As soon as they discovered the bat, the researchers noted it was very different from Lamotte's roundleaf bat, the only bat thought to occupy the caves and mining tunnels.

"As soon I looked at it, I agreed it was something new" said Nancy Simmons, American Museum of Natural History Curator. After further inspection of data they determined that it was unlike any other known species of bat.

The species has been given the scientific name Myotis nimbaensis, which means 'from Nimba'.

Researchers were initially looking to study bats, specifically Lamotte's roundleaf bat, in the Nimba mountains, Guinea, until they stumbled upon the new species.

While bats have established a habitat inside the natural caves, the bats have also colonised mining tunnels (known as adits) that were built in the 1970s and 1980s.

The study is an ongoing effort to help the Nimba bats survive in the caves - Bat Conservation International and others have started work to build new tunnels which will last centuries away from the mining tunnels so the bats can safely live there.