Australonycteris
| Murgon Bat Temporal range: 54.6 Ma Early Eocene | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Chiroptera |
| Suborder: | Microchiroptera |
| Family: | †Archaeonycteridae |
| Genus: | Australonycteris |
| Species: | A. clarkae |
| Binomial name | |
| Australonycteris clarkae Hand et al. 1994 | |
Australonycteris is an extinct and monotypic genus of microchiropteran bat with the single species Australonycteris clarkae.[1] The species is known from fragmentary remains found at the Murgon fossil site, in south-eastern Queensland, dating to the early Eocene, 54.6 million years ago.[1] It is the oldest bat from the Southern Hemisphere and one of the oldest bats in the world,[1] and inhabited forests and swampy areas, with a diet of insects and probably even small fish.
Australonycteris, one of the oldest known bats, is known from several upper and lower teeth, an edentulous lower jaw fragment, a partial periotic bone, and several postcranial fragments. It has a forearm length of 40–45 millimetres (1.6–1.8 in), making it a medium-size bat, and it could echolocate. Australonycteris displayed some differences in dental anatomy, compared to extant bats, and it is possible that it foraged for insects and small fish.[2]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 Hand et al. 1994, Abstract
- ↑ Archer 2002, p. 181
- Archer, Michael (2002). Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One Hundred Million Years of Evolution. UNSW Press. ISBN 9780868404356. Retrieved September 2014.
- Hand, Suzanne; Novacek, Michael; Godthelp, Henk; Archer, Michael (1994). "First Eocene Bat from Australia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 14 (3): 375–381. doi:10.1080/02724634.1994.10011565. JSTOR 4523576.