Amanda Grunwald is fascinated by arthropods, by reptiles, pretty much anything that creeps or crawls. But what about the creatures that fly? Here we dive into her work on bats in the genus Pseudoromicia, simple-nosed bats that are relatively less known. She takes us from the mountains of Cameroon to a genetics lab in Chicago, and we discuss what responsible science looks like and why it’s important. 

A review of bats of the genus Pseudoromicia (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) with the description of a new species” is in volume 21 issue 1 of Systematics and Biodiversity.

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2022.2156002

Or open access here: http://ir-library.mmarau.ac.ke:8080/bitstream/handle/123456789/13562/A%20review%20of%20bats%20of%20the%20genus%20Pseudoromicia.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Amanda Grunwald - Transcript

New Species: Pseudoromicia mbamminkom

Episode art courtesy of Amanda Grunwald

To learn more about Amanda’s work, check out: batcon.org

Further reading on the topic of a more ethical taxonomic practice: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-021-01460-w

Researchers mentioned in this episode: Dr. Eric Bakwo Fils, Dr. Patrick Atagana, and Frank Mayo https://www.researchgate.net/lab/Bakwo-Fils-Eric-Moise-Lab

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