New Myzopodidae (Chiroptera) from the Late Paleogene of Egypt: Emended Family Diagnosis and Biogeographic Origins of Noctilionoidea
Abstract
Myzopodidae is a family of bats today represented by two extant species of the genus
Myzopoda that are restricted to the island of Madagascar. These bats possess uniquely
derived adhesive pads on their thumbs and ankles that they use for clinging to smooth
roosting surfaces. Only one fossil myzopodid has been reported previously, a humerus
from Pleistocene deposits at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania that was tentatively referred
to the genus Myzopoda. Here we describe a new genus and two new species of myzopodids
based on dental remains from Paleogene deposits in the Fayum Depression in Egypt,
and provide an emended diagnosis for the family Myzopodidae. Phasmatonycteris phiomensis
n. sp. is represented by four specimens from the early Oligocene Jebel Qatrani Formation
and P. butleri n. sp. is known from a single specimen from the late Eocene Birket
Qarun Formation. Together these specimens extend the temporal range of Myzopodidae
by 36+ million years, and the geographic range by nearly 4000 kilometers. The new
myzopodids, along with previously described bats from the Fayum and Australia, suggest
that eastern Gondwana played a critical role in the origin and diversification of
several bats clades notably including the superfamily Noctilionoidea, the majority
of which live in the Neotropics today.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/8366Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1371/journal.pone.0086712Publication Info
Gunnell, Gregg F; Simmons, Nancy B; & Seiffert, Erik R (2014). New Myzopodidae (Chiroptera) from the Late Paleogene of Egypt: Emended Family Diagnosis
and Biogeographic Origins of Noctilionoidea. PLoS One, 9(2). 10.1371/journal.pone.0086712. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/8366.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Gregg Gunnell
Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology
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