Fossil of huge 'walking' bat discovered in New Zealand

[Aspects of the Material World]

Fossil of huge 'walking' bat discovered in New Zealand
16 million years ago, giant bats walked on four limbs

Date:
    June 17, 2015
Source:
    University of New South Wales
Summary:
    Fossilized remains of a new bat species, which lived 16 million years ago, walked on four limbs and was three times larger than today's average bat, have been discovered in New Zealand.



Mystacina tuberculata foraging on South Island, New Zealand.
Credit: Rod Morris

Fossilised remains of a new bat species, which lived 16 million years ago, walked on four limbs and was three times larger than today's average bat, have been discovered in New Zealand.

[Aspects of the Material World]

The fossils were found near Central Otago on South Island, in sediment left over from a vast prehistoric body of water known as Lake Manuherikia, which was part of warmer subtropical rainforest during the early Miocene era, between 16 and 19-million-years-ago.

The new species, Mystacina miocenalis, was described today in the journal PLOS ONE, and is related to another bat, Mystacina tuberculata, which still lives in New Zealand's old growth forests.

"Our discovery shows for the first time that Mystacina bats have been present in New Zealand for upwards of 16 million years, residing in habitats with very similar plant life and food sources," says lead author and vertebrate palaeontologist, Associate Professor Suzanne Hand from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia.

New Zealand's only native terrestrial mammals are three species of bat, including two belonging to the Mystacina genus -- one of which was last sighted in the 1960s. They are known as burrowing bats because they forage on the ground under leaf-litter and snow, as well as in the air, scuttling on their wrists and backward-facing feet, while keeping their wings tightly furled.

These bats were believed to have an ancient history in New Zealand, but until now, the oldest fossil of a Mystacina bat in New Zealand was from a cave in South Island, dating to 17,500 years ago. This latest discovery forces a rethink of when these peculiar, walking bats first crossed the ditch, arriving from what is present-day Australia.

"This helps us understand the capacity of bats to establish populations on islands and the climatic conditions required for this to happen," says Associate Professor Hand.

"Bats are important pollinators and seed dispersers that keep forests healthy. Understanding the connectivity between the bat faunas of different landmasses is important for evaluating biosecurity threats and conservation priorities for fragile island ecosystems."

The new species has similar teeth to its contemporary relative, suggesting a broad diet that included nectar, pollen and fruit, as well as insects and spiders. Limb bones found in the deposit also showed similar structures specialised for walking.

Where they differ is body size: at an estimated 40 grams, the fossil bat is roughly three times heavier than its living cousin, and the average weight of more than 900 living bat species.

[Aspects of the Material World]

"The size of bats is physically constrained by the demands of flight and echolocation, as you need to be small, quick and accurate to chase insects in the dark," explains Associate Professor Hand. "The unusually large size of this bat suggests it was doing less in-flight hunting and was taking heavier prey from the ground, and larger fruit than even its living cousin."

The team also found a diverse array of plant, animal and insect fossils at the site, which shows that the 16-million-year-old subtropical ecosystem bore resemblance to the more temperate one that exists today.

"Remarkably, the Miocene ecosystems associated with the fossil bat contain the kinds of trees used today by Mystacina for its colonial roosts," says Associate Professor Hand. "Most of its food plants are also represented, as are terrestrial arthropods including a variety of beetles, ants and spiders, which these bats continue to hunt on the ground."

The Lake Manuherikia site has been a treasure trove for palaeontologists over the years, producing New Zealand's oldest frogs, lizards and land birds, as well as its only crocodiles and terrestrial turtles.

Associate Professor Hand led the research along with Associate Professor Daphne Lee from the University of Otago, and Dr Trevor Worthy from Flinders University in South Australia.

Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of New South Wales. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Journal Reference:

    Suzanne J. Hand, Daphne E. Lee, Trevor H. Worthy, Michael Archer, Jennifer P. Worthy, Alan J. D. Tennyson, Steven W. Salisbury, R. Paul Scofield, Dallas C. Mildenhall, Elizabeth M. Kennedy, Jon K. Lindqvist. Miocene Fossils Reveal Ancient Roots for New Zealand’s Endemic Mystacina (Chiroptera) and Its Rainforest Habitat. PLOS ONE, 17 Jun 2015 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0128871

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University of New South Wales. "Fossil of huge 'walking' bat discovered in New Zealand: 16 million years ago, giant bats walked on four limbs." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 June 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150617144437.htm>.

[Aspects of the Material World]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150617144437.htm

[Aspects of the Material World]

A battle of the vampires, 20 million years ago?

Date:
    February 3, 2012
Source:
    Oregon State University
Summary:
    They are tiny, ugly, disease-carrying little blood-suckers that most people have never seen or heard of, but a new discovery in a one-of-a-kind fossil shows that "bat flies" have been doing their noxious business with bats for at least 20 million years.




Bat fly in amber. This is the only known fossil of a bat fly, a specimen at least 20 million years old that carried malaria and fed on the blood of bats.
Credit: George Poinar, Jr., courtesy of Oregon State University

They are tiny, ugly, disease-carrying little blood-suckers that most people have never seen or heard of, but a new discovery in a one-of-a-kind fossil shows that "bat flies" have been doing their noxious business with bats for at least 20 million years.

[Aspects of the Material World]

For bats, that's a long time to deal with a parasite doing its best vampire impression. Maybe it is nature's revenge on the vampire bat, an aggressive blood consumer in its own right that will feed on anything from sheep to dogs and humans.

The find was made by researchers from Oregon State University in amber from the Dominican Republic that was formed 20-30 million years ago. The bat fly was entombed and perfectly preserved for all that time in what was then oozing tree sap and later became a semi-precious stone.

This is the only fossil ever found of a bat fly, and scientists say it's an extraordinary discovery. It was also carrying malaria, further evidence of the long time that malaria has been prevalent in the New World. The genus of bat fly discovered in this research is now extinct.

The findings have been published in two professional journals, Systematic Parasitology and Parasites and Vectors.

"Bat flies are a remarkable case of specific evolution, animals that have co-evolved with bats and are found nowhere else," said George Poinar, Jr., an OSU professor of zoology and one of the world's leading experts on the study of ancient ecosystems through plants and animals preserved in amber.

"Bats are mammals that go back about 50 million years, the only true flying mammal, and the earliest species had claws and climbed trees," Poinar said. "We now know that bat flies have been parasitizing them for at least half that time, and they are found exclusively in their fur. They are somewhat flat-sided like a flea, allowing them to move more easily through bat fur."

Not every bat is infested with bat flies, and some of the contemporary flies are specific to certain species of bats. But they are still pretty common and found around the world.

Bat flies only leave their bat in order to mate, Poinar said, and that's probably what this specimen was doing when it got stuck in some sticky, oozing sap.

Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Oregon State University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Journal Reference:

    George O Poinar. Vetufebrus ovatus n. gen., n. sp. (Haemospororida: Plasmodiidae) vectored by a streblid bat fly (Diptera: Streblidae) in Dominican amber. Parasites & Vectors, 2011; 4 (1): 229 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-4-229

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Oregon State University. "A battle of the vampires, 20 million years ago?." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 3 February 2012. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120203102414.htm>.

[Falkavage]

Wonder if it moved around like the pterosaurs which I believe are now thought to have walked on all fours (their hind feet and wrist bones of their wings) and also were supposedly able to launch themselves into the air with a jump and a single (or few) wingbeat, much like a Vampire Bat does today? The largest bats today (Flying Foxes) are fruit eaters and I don't believe possess echo location. Saw some in Australia and they are very impressive with about a five foot wingspan if I remember correctly.

[Ünlüsoy]

Very gruesome.