Scientists find tiny new bat species: Geneva museum

Scientists have identified a new species of bat weighing just five grammes in the Comoros island archipelago off eastern Africa, the Natural History Museum in Geneva said on Wednesday.

Australian, Madagascan, Swiss and US scientists were documenting bats in the former French colony when they came across the new species, which originates from nearby Madagascar, the museum said in a statement.

The mammal has been named "Miniopterus aelleni" in honour of the late Villy Aellen, a former head of the Geneva museum and a major bat specialist.

Some 10 new species of mammal have been identified every year since 2000, the museum said.

(c) 2009 AFP