Pickled bat kept in vaults is a new mammal species

A pickled bat kept in the vaults of London’s Natural History Museum for 30 years is a previously unknown species.

The discovery of a new creature of the night at the museum was announced appropriately on Halloween. It was named Francis’ Woolly Horseshoe Bat, Rhinolophus francisi, after Charles Francis, who collected the specimen in Malaysia in 1983.

A CT scanner was used to analyse the animal’s fragile bones without having to touch it.