The return of the bats -- no not Batman. An actual bat that was long believed to be extinct was rediscovered last week.

The New Guinea big-eared bat (Pharotis imogene) was discovered by two student researchers, Catherine Hughes and Julie Broken-Brow from the University of Queensland in Australia. The bat is currently on an endangered species list, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. This bat has not been seen in 120 years.

Hughes and Broken-Brow had trapped the bat in Papua New Guinea in July 2012, as part of their own study on the region's tiny micro-bats and the response to sustainable logging of their forest homes. As part of the pair's project, they trapped, caught and identified 41 bats from nine known species, with the exception of the female "extinct" bat. The student scientists had no idea, Scientific American reported.

Why did it take so long to figure it out? This species of bat had remained unidentified for almost two years at the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery. It was only until Dr. Harry Parnaby, a researcher at the Australian Museum, had requested to loan the mysterious mammal that it was identified. It was then Parnaby perhaps nearly flew out of his seat, subsequently identifying it as the big-eared bat, Time reported.

The specimen does indeed have ears nearly twice the size of its face; it appears to be an insectivore; and it is so tiny that one could lift it with a pair of chopsticks. It was last seen in 1890. 

Parnaby was able to analyze and distinguish the rediscovered bat from other species: by the curve of its nose; its size and ear lobes; and the naked skin above its nostrils, Scientific American reported. But the Pharotis bat also looks similar to another local species, the small-toothed long-eared bat (Nyctophilus microdon). As a matter of fact, one specimen, found in 1985, was initially misidentified as the big-eared bat, but it was reexamined three years later.

According to Hughes and Broken-Brow's study and findings of the bat, it raises a lot more questions than answers such as, "they still don't know what the big-eared bats sound like nor do we know anything about their ecology. What are their habitat requirements? What do they eat? How and where do they nest? How many of these rare bats remain?"

They also noted that the bat was found in an unprotected area, which means that its habitats may be at risk. As a recommendation, they suggest that new surveys be carried out in order to establish the bat's locations, and how many there are, and also additional studies related to acoustics to see if echolocation calls could be identified, Scientific American reported.