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Whoever’s in charge of pushing the buttons for creating new species truly has a bizarre sense of humor.

A new species of bat has just been discovered in Vietnam, according to a paper published in the Journal of Mammalogy. One of the bat’s most distinctive visual features is an unusual nose that somewhat resembles the effects of being sprayed with battery acid.

When I first saw the photo of the bat, I immediately thought that it had a deformity, perhaps due to some kind of chemicals in the water… you know how clumsy us humans are?

Although very little is known, the scientific name for this newest member of the bat community is Hipposideros griffini, belonging to the family known for its distinctive noses that help bats to focus echolocation calls.

The bat’s pointy ears then collect the returning calls, which allow the listener to create a full and accurate mental image of its surroundings. This sophisticated system is one reason why carnivorous bats are able to hunt so well in the dark, finding tiny insects in no time at all.

[Cheers nationalgeographic]