Salim Ali's fruit bat  (Latidens salmalii)

Salim Ali's fruit bat is one of the world's rarest bats (4) and is the only species in the genus Latidens. It is a medium-sized fruit bat, which lacks an external tail. The head is covered in blackish-brown fur which is paler at the base, the wing membrane and the long fur are light brown in colour, and the underparts are light grey-brown. The species was first collected in 1948 by a British naturalist called Angus Hutton, who mis-identified the specimen as the common short-nosed fruit bat. The specimen was re-examined later by Kitty Thonglongya who recognised it as a new species and named it in honour of the famous Indian ornithologist, Salim Ali in 1972 (5).