Newly discovered bat species - Naming rights auction

Yellow bat naming rights. Credit Purdue University.

Purdue University is auctioning the naming rights to several new species of bat discovered by researcher John Bickham, a Purdue professor of forestry and natural resources who specializes in genetic studies of fish and wildlife.
"This provides a terrific opportunity to recognize someone who loves science and wants to be more involved in the discovery of a species in the vast world around us," said Bickham, who is donating the species naming rights to Purdue. "They would be able to join me and a Purdue team on a future scientific research expedition. Plus, the species name is forever, so you'd be immortalized in the international scientific community."
Bickham, director of Discovery Park's Center for the Environment, has discovered or co-discovered seven species, including two Amazonian turtles and bats from areas in Mexico, Central America, South America and Africa.
Proceeds to environmental research

Proceeds from the naming project will be used to fund environmental research at Purdue and in the country of the species' origin. In addition, the funds will be used to host symposia and to sponsor undergraduate and graduate student research programs.

Newly discovered bat
The first species to be named, in conjunction with the Center for Environment's Species Naming and Conservation Initiative, is a relative of the little yellow bat, known scientifically as Rhogeessa tumida. The newly discovered bat lives in the Central American countries of Mexico, Panama, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Smallest New World bat
"These are the smallest bats in the New World," Bickham said. "They weigh just 3 grams and are very colourful, fittingly in the Purdue-like gold and black. These bats also are especially important, because they are sensitive indicators of environmental quality and a model of how species evolved. For someone wanting to have a species in their name, this is an interesting and unique bat."

Alan H. Rebar, director of Purdue's Discovery Park, said other universities and conservation groups have been successful in collaborating with donors who have a shared stake in conservation to ensure the continuation of many of these rare species.

"The process to publish and validate new species is extremely rigorous, time-consuming and can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars," Rebar said.

Those interested in Purdue's species naming initiative can go to a special Web site

Previous naming auctions

• A September 2007 auction of rights to name 10 newly discovered species of fish generated $2 million for conservation efforts in eastern Indonesia.
• The Blue Auction, sponsored by Conservation International and the Monaco-Asia Society, raised $500,000 alone for a Hemiscyllium shark from Cendrawasih Bay and $50,000 for the Pseudanthias fairy basslet.
• An online auction for naming rights to a new owl butterfly species discovered by the University of Florida brought a winning bid of $40,800 in November 2007, with proceeds benefiting continued research on Mexican butterflies.
• The Wildlife Conservation Society raised $650,000 in a one-week Internet auction to name a newly identified Bolivian monkey in 2005.