Leeds/Sheffield - Tom Thumb bat makes UK home

A recently discovered species of bat has been recorded for the first time in the UK. The tiny Alcathoe's bat, or Myotis alcathoe, was identified by a team from the universities of Leeds and Sheffield during a Europe-wide study of bat-population ecology and genetics. About the size of the end of an adult human thumb, the bat was found when researchers visited caves in Sussex and Yorkshire. It was first discovered in Greece in 2001 and is a native of continental Europe. It was previously believed that the English Channel acted as a barrier that prevented the species reaching Britain.