'Ugly' Australian animals attract less research

[Plazma Inferno!]

Australian scientists reviewed the published literature for each of Australia's 331 mammal species, and found they broadly fell into three categories: monotremes and marsupials (the 'good') – with most studies focused on physiology and anatomy; introduced mammals such as cats, foxes and rabbits (the 'bad') – with research focused on population control; and native rodents and bats (the 'ugly') – which they said have been largely overlooked in the research literature.
According to the researchers, the "small size and cryptic behaviour" of these 'ugly' species can make them difficult to study, resulting in poor conservation and management.

Research paper: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mam.12066/epdf

 

[iceaura]

So Australia has at least 83 species of bats, not counting a couple that have gone extinct recently. And nobody knows very much about most of them.

I did not expect to read that.