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An African bat overlooked for two centuries is confirmed in Europe

Phys · · 703 words · By Gesine Steiner
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What to know about An African bat overlooked for two centuries is confirmed in Europe

Researchers have documented the presence of the Egyptian slit-faced bat (Nycteris thebaica) on Pantelleria Island, marking the first confirmed occurrence of the species and its family in Europe. The study utilized specialized acoustic surveys to detect the bat's faint echolocation calls, suggesting a small, previously undetected population exists on the island.

Propaganda risk 0%
Claims checked 9
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center86%
Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

An African bat overlooked for two centuries is confirmed in Europe Lisa Lock Scientific Editor Robert Egan Senior Editor An African bat whose presence in Sicily had remained an unresolved zoological mystery for almost two centuries has now been documented on…

Why it matters

A study published in Global Ecology and Conservation reports the first solid evidence of the Egyptian slit-faced bat (Nycteris thebaica) in Europe, adding not only a new bat species but also the first representative of the family Nycteridae to the European…

Common ground

A research team from the University of Naples Federico II, the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Pantelleria National Park recorded the species during targeted acoustic surveys on Pantelleria, a volcanic island in the Sicily…

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Researchers have documented the presence of the Egyptian slit-faced bat (Nycteris thebaica) on Pantelleria Island, marking the first confirmed occurrence of the species and its family in Europe. The study utilized specialized acoustic surveys to detect the bat's faint echolocation calls, suggesting a small, previously undetected population exists on the island.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-african-overlooked-centuries-europe.html

analyticsAnalysis

0%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 100%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 4
info Single Source 2
help Insufficient Evidence 1
verified Verified By Reference 1
verified Verified 1
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Claim 1: “The researchers obtained high-quality sequences attributable to N. thebaica, including very short, multi-harmonic frequency-modulated echolocation calls, social vocalizations, and one sequence featuring two bats flying together”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web sources report the exact details regarding high-quality sequences, multi-harmonic frequency-modulated calls, social vocalizations, and the sequence of two bats flying together.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The researchers obtained high-quality sequences attributable to N. thebaica, including very short, multi-harmonic frequency-modulated echolocation calls, social vocalizations, and one sequence featuri…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-african-overlooked-centuries-e…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The researchers obtained high-quality sequences attributable to N. thebaica, including very short, multi-harmonic frequency-modulated echolocation calls, social vocalisations, and one sequence featuri…
https://idw-online.de/de/news876068
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — See “bat pass.” Obstacles that can affect a recording of echolocation calls (e.g., foliage, trees); may cause either scattering echolocation calls due to reflection and blocking or bats adjusting thei…
https://www.batcon.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Bat_Echolo…
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Claim 2: “It is a low-flying, clutter-adapted "whispering" bat that emits very faint, high-frequency echolocation calls”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources describe the bat as a low-flying, 'whispering' bat that emits faint, high-frequency echolocation calls.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The Egyptian slit-faced bat (Nycteris thebaica) is a species of slit-faced bat broadly distributed throughout Africa and the Middle East. It is a species of microbat in the family Nycteridae.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_slit-faced_bat
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — A bat built to go unheard. The Egyptian slit-faced bat is widespread across sub-Saharan Africa and has a discontinuous northern range in North Africa and the Middle East. It is a low-flying, clutter-a…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-african-overlooked-centuries-e…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Unlike larger bat species, Egyptian slit-faced bats operate with subtler tendencies. Weighing only a few grams, this species of microbat often evades easy detection. That's because they fly low and em…
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/microphone-18-inches-off-ground-12…
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Claim 3: “A study published in Global Ecology and Conservation reports the first solid evidence of the Egyptian slit-faced bat (Nycteris thebaica) in Europe”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web sources ('An African bat overlooked for two centuries is confirmed in Europe' and 'A Microphone 18 Inches off the Ground Cracked a 200-Year Bat Mystery') confirm the discovery of Nycteris thebaica in Europe.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Bats (order Chiroptera ) are winged mammals, the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, using long, spread-out digits covered with a thin mem…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Oce…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberia
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of the native wild mammal species recorded in Madagascar. As of June 2014 (following the IUCN reassessment of the lemurs) there are 241 extant mammal species recognized in Madagascar, o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mammals_of_Madagascar
+ 3 more evidence sources
help
Claim 4: “Danilo Russo et al, A ghost from the past: Acoustic evidence for the long-overlooked occurrence of the African bat Nycteris thebaica in Europe, Global Ecology and Conservation (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2026.e04377”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the search results to confirm the specific publication title, the author Danilo Russo, the 2026 date, or the DOI provided.
info
Claim 5: “Nycteris thebaica had been mentioned in 19th-century Sicilian literature under uncertain names”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence does not contain specific mentions of 19th-century Sicilian literature regarding this bat; this detail appears only in the claim and is not corroborated by the search results.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of mammals of Europe. It includes all mammals currently found in Europe (from northeast Atlantic to Ural Mountains and northern slope of Caucasus Mountains), whether resident or as regu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mammals_of_Europe
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Nycteris thebaica, egyptisk klyvsvans, är en fladdermusart som beskrevs av E. Geoffroy 1818. Nycteris thebaica ingår i släktet hålnäsor, och familjen Nycteridae. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalo…
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nycteris_thebaica
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web search NEUTRAL — Two rare species (Barbastella leucomelas and Nycteris thebaica) were identified solely around acacia trees.In the Usambara Mountains, 161 individual bats representing 19 species were documented during…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270212082_Nycteris_…
+ 1 more evidence source
info
Claim 6: “A research team from the University of Naples Federico II, the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Pantelleria National Park recorded the species during targeted acoustic surveys on Pantelleria”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the institutions mentioned (University of Naples Federico II, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, etc.) are verified as existing entities, the specific collaboration for this study on Pantelleria is not corroborated by a second independent source in the provided evidence.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Botanical Garden of the University of Naples Federico II (in Italian: Orto botanico dell'Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II or simply Orto botanico) is a research facility and botanical …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botanical_Garden_of_the_Univer…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Naples ( NAY-pəlz; Italian: Napoli [ˈnaːpoli] ; Neapolitan: Napule [ˈnɑːpələ]) is the regional capital of Campania, southern Italy. With a population of 905,050 within the city's administrative limits…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naples
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The University of Naples Federico II (Italian: Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, pronounced [universiˈta ddeʎʎi ˈstuːdi di ˈnaːpoli fedeˈriːko seˈkondo]) is a public research university in…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Naples_Federico_…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 7: “The Egyptian slit-faced bat is widespread across sub-Saharan Africa and has a discontinuous northern range in North Africa and the Middle East”
CORROBORATED
Both Wikipedia and multiple web sources confirm the species is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa and has a discontinuous range in North Africa and the Middle East.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The Egyptian slit-faced bat (Nycteris thebaica) is a species of slit-faced bat broadly distributed throughout Africa and the Middle East. It is a species of microbat in the family Nycteridae. Six subs…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_slit-faced_bat
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The Egyptian slit-faced bat is widespread across sub-Saharan Africa and has a discontinuous northern range in North Africa and the Middle East. It is a low-flying, clutter-adapted "whispering" bat tha…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-african-overlooked-centuries-e…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The Egyptian slit-faced bat is distributed widely across Sub-Saharan Africa. This species of microbat also appears in parts of North Africa and the Middle East. For the first time, however, scientists…
https://a-z-animals.com/articles/a-microphone-18-inches-off-…
verified
Claim 8: “Pantelleria, a volcanic island in the Sicily Channel between Tunisia and Sicily”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and multiple web sources explicitly describe Pantelleria as a volcanic island in the Strait of Sicily (Sicilian Channel) located between Tunisia and Sicily.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Italy–Tunisia Delimitation Agreement is a 1971 treaty between Italy and Tunisia in which the two countries agreed to delimit a maritime boundary between them in the continental shelf. The text of …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy–Tunisia_Delimitation_Agr…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Muslim Aghlabids conquered Sicily between June 827 and 902, when the last major Byzantine stronghold on the island, Taormina, fell. Isolated fortresses remained in Byzantine hands until 965, but t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_conquest_of_Sicily
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Strait of Sicily (also known as Sicilian Strait, Sicilian Channel, Channel of Sicily, Sicilian Narrows, Strait of Tunis, and Pantelleria Channel; Italian: Canale di Sicilia or the Stretto di Sicil…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Sicily
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 9: “adding not only a new bat species but also the first representative of the family Nycteridae to the European fauna”
VERIFIED
Wikipedia and other sources confirm Nycteris thebaica belongs to the family Nycteridae. The discovery reports explicitly state this is the first representative of this family documented in European fauna.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Bats (order Chiroptera ) are winged mammals, the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, using long, spread-out digits covered with a thin mem…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Egyptian slit-faced bat (Nycteris thebaica) is a species of slit-faced bat broadly distributed throughout Africa and the Middle East. It is a species of microbat in the family Nycteridae. Six subs…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_slit-faced_bat
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of mammals of Europe. It includes all mammals currently found in Europe (from northeast Atlantic to Ural Mountains and northern slope of Caucasus Mountains), whether resident or as regu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mammals_of_Europe
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.