Fossil Fruit Bat from the Ypresian/Lutetian of Black Crow, Namibia
The freshwater limestone at Black Crow of Ypresian/Lutetian age, has yielded a diverse fauna including aquatic and terrestrial forms but few aerial elements (indeterminate bird bones). The 2017 campaign of acid treatment of blocks of limestone from the site yielded a distal humerus of a megachiropteran, and an isolated tooth which possibly belongs to this suborder. These fossils are the oldest fruit bat fossils known, and as such they raise intriguing questions concerning the origin of the suborder and its relationships to microchiropterans (insectivorous bats) and Primates. Keywords: Palaeogene, Namibia, Megachiroptera, Fruit Bat, Humerus, Molar, Radicular system.
Communications of the Geological Survey of Namibia
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Fossil Fruit Bat from the Ypresian_Lutetian of Black Crow_Namibia.pdf | 1.35 MB |