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For decades, erendipity, the word coined by art and the landscape was scarred as government civil war isolated historian Horace Walpole in the 18th soldiers cleared forests that may have been this lush tropical century meaning “fortunate happen- used for hiding by the Tamil rebels. Biological 12 3 Sstance” or an aptitude for making desirable research in Sri Lanka also suffered during the paradise from discoveries by accident, sums up the feelings civil war. The last comprehensive study of science—now and experiences of the ROM’s Sri Lanka expe- the mammalian fauna was published in 1935. its ready to be dition to study biodiversity. What you may Although the fighting meant that parks were 4 explored anew not know about the word serendipity is that it less accessible to people, ironically it also originates from Serendip, an old Arabic name created an environment that was less attrac- used for the island of Sri Lanka, recorded in tive to poachers, allowing for some wildlife to By DEIRDRE LEOWINATA use as early as 361 AD. actually flourish. & VINCENT LUK 5 Just by looking out of the airplane window onto the green hills and valleys of Sri Lanka, BRING ON THE you can tell that it’s something special. There’s As a country, Sri Lanka is overflowing with something about the bright colours painted on attractions, but we were there for a very 11 the mud-brick houses, and the waving hands unique attraction: bats. Opposite page, clockwise from left: 1 Leschenault’s rousette and smiling faces of passers-by, that is so Bats don’t have the best reputation. They 6 ( leschenaultii) hanging genuine it makes you feel at home at once. are most often associated with darkness and in a tree. The most exciting thing about tropical disease (or a billionaire-turned-superhero). 2 Burton Lim and crew at Kumana National Park. ecosystems in places like Sri Lanka is the Contrary to popular belief, bats are not close 3 Lim and Signe Brinklov collecting. sheer amount of life they harbour. Biodiversity relatives of rodents, and are quite beneficial 4 Blood vessels in the wing of at the equator is incomparable to any other to us and the world in general. Their own a lesser short-nosed fruit bat ( brachyotis). region of the world. taxonomic order, Chiroptera, was named 5 Lim holding a rufous horseshoe after the Greek words for “hand” and “wing,” bat (Rhinolophus rouxii). and they are actually closer to shrews than 6 Brinklov at Thangamale CIVIL WAR sanctuary. On a hot Sri Lankan summer day you would to humans in the tree of life. They help with 7 The Knuckles Mountain Range never know that you were in a country still and , control insect 7 in Sri Lanka. recovering from a generation of turmoil. populations, and can be important bioindica- 8 Lim setting up a harp trap. 9 Vials of silica beads to help pre- Sri Lanka’s civil war was a clash between tors of climate change. serve the DNA samples collected. the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (more 10 9 8 10 #ROMSriLanka team poses for commonly known as the Tamil Tigers) and a group photo. TEAM OF EXPERTS 11 Scouting for evidence of bats the largely Sinhalese government. It started Our team of chiropteran experts was composed at Kumana National Park. in 1983 after a growing separatist movement of our fearless leader, bat taxonomist and 12 Taking a wing punch biopsy for in the 1970s resulted in a violent anti-Tamil biologist Dr. Burton Lim; world- DNA study of an ( coromandra) from backlash, and lasted for 26 years (until its end renowned bat ecologist Dr. Brock Fenton; and the Kandy region. in 2009). The human impact was devastating echolocation specialist Dr. Signe Brinklov;

20 ROM MAGAZINE | WINTER 2016 WINTER 2016 | ROM MAGAZINE 21 Rufous Horseshoe bat (Rhinolophous rouxii), Round-eared Tube-nosed bat (Murina cyclotis) and Old World leaf-nosed bat (Hipposideros speoris) in flight.

1 INDIAN ROUNDLEAF BAT THE FOLLOWING (Hipposideros lankadiva) IT MIGHT BE A NEW and offering support and sage advice was one INSIDE THE CAVES WERE SPECIES THAT HASN’T of Sri Lanka’s most eminent environmentalists, Out of all the exotic places we explored, 2 INDIAN PIPISTRELLE (Pipistrellus coromandra) BEEN DESCRIBED BEFORE. Dr. Sarath Kotagama. the caves were by far the most exhilarating, CAUGHT AND WE STILL NEED TO DO SOME There are eight major families of bats in and they were usually a guaranteed place to IDENTIFIED 3  ( giganteus) WORK AND ANALYSIS BEFORE Sri Lanka: Pteropodidae, , catch bats. We visited two sites, Nitro Cave in Miniopteridae, Molossidae, Emballonuridae, the Knuckles mountain range, and Wavulgalge ON THE WE CAN SAY FOR SURE 4 GREATER SHORT-NOSED Megadermatidae, Hipposiderodae, and Cave in the hills of Koslanda. Before you even #ROMSRILANKA FRUIT BAT EXACTLY WHAT IT IS. (Cynopterus sphinx) Rhinolophidae. There are 30 known species catch sight of a bat cave, you will know it by the EXPEDITION* DR. BURTON LIM, within these families. During the month we smell. Bats and pinnipeds (seals and walruses) 5 ROUND-EARED ASSISTANT CURATOR were there, the team caught and identified a are the only that excrete . Birds TUBE-NOSED BAT MAMMALOGY, ROM Burton Lim and Signe (Murina cyclotis) total of 16* of those species, including at least are the only other that produce it, and Brinklov identifying one potential discovery that has never been it’s probably a good thing because the smell and releasing bats 6 LESSER SHORT- found in Sri Lanka before. Possibly the newest is overpowering. As we entered the caves, our caught in a harp trap NOSED FRUIT BAT at Wavulgalge Cave. (Cynopterus brachyotis) member of Sri Lanka’s Pteripodidae family footprints released clouds of powdery excre- is Rousettus aegyptiacus, the Egyptian fruit ment into the air that clogged our senses (even 7 RUFOUS HORSESHOE BAT (Rhinolophus rouxii) bat. Originating in Africa, its range was with respirator masks on), and covered each of previously thought to extend no further us in a layer of grey dust. But it’s amazing what 8 SCHNEIDER’S LEAF-NOSED BAT east than . one can get used to in a short amount of time. EXPLORATION BEYOND THE CAVES (Hipposideros speoris) Within minutes, the smell was more tolerable, During the expedition, we surveyed a different area every night, giving us room to appreciate the incredible so we were never at one location for very long. We traveled through 9 LESCHENAULT’S ROUSETTE (Rousettus leschenaultii) sights inside. rolling hills to misty cloud forests, humid rainforests, temperate mountains, and arid deserts all with the hope of finding as many 10 LEAST PIPISTRELLE (Pipistrellus tenuis) BATS AND MORE BATS different bat species as possible. On the potholed roads winding Inside the bat cave, we found the main around the Knuckles mountain range in northern hill country, we 11 FULVUS ROUNDLEAF BAT chamber and shone our headlamps into the passed few other people. When we rounded a corner it suddenly (Hipposideros fulvus) darkness, revealing thousands of yellow became apparent why the British gave it the name “Knuckles” as 12 BLACK-BEARDED TOMB BAT gleaming eyes staring right back at us. We we saw the silhouette of what resembled a clenched fist. We then (Taphozous melanopogon) were eclipsed by the sound and feeling of made our way across the flatlands, following rivers filled with 13 GREATER FALSE VAMPIRE BAT beating wings, with the occasional face slap people washing clothes and fishing, passing fields of rice and (Megaderma lyra) love tap, for the better part of three hours. coconut palms. One day we were sweating in the hot and humid 14 LESSER ASIATIC YELLOW BAT We were almost overwhelmed by science, rainforest of Sinharaja Forest Reserve; the next we donned our ( kuhlii) literally: The team could not get the bats out warmest clothes in Nuwara Eliya situated next to Adam’s Peak, 15 EASTERN BENT-WING BAT of the traps fast enough, to the point where the highest mountain in the country; and then we were in the (Miniopterus fuliginosus) both hands were being used to snatch bats famous arid tabletop mountains of ancient Sigiriya. Every day 16 EGYPTIAN FRUIT BAT out for a quick species check before releasing brought something new and unexpected, and we appreciated (Rousettus aegyptiacus) them. What we witnessed and experienced in every moment of it. those caves has to be one of the world’s most *Between August 23 and September 19, 2015 Burton Lim and crew powerful displays of nature. One doesn’t nor- searching for ideal locations for catching mally witness a bat exodus unless one goes bats in the Sinharaja looking for it, and for our team of bat experts JOIN During our expedition, we engaged followers through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram with the hashtag rainforest. we did exactly that and were consumed by US FOR #ROMSriLanka and #ROMinthefield. Thank you to everyone who joined us virtually on our expedition! the majesty of the experience. Go to rom.on.ca for videos and additional photos from the expedition.

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