52-million-year-old fossils support idea that bats diversified rapidly on multiple continents during the Eocene. Scientists have discovered a new bat species, Icaronycteris gunnelli, based on the oldest bat skeletons ever found in Wyoming's Green River Formation. The study supports the idea that
Photo of a newly described bat skeleton representing. Found in the Green River Formation of Wyoming, this is the oldest bat skeleton ever recovered. The new species was identified after analyzing two exceptionally well-preserved skeletons from the formation, which had previously yielded over 30 bat fossils from two known species. These findings contribute to our understanding of bat evolution and diversity in the early Eocene.
Scientists have described a new species of bat based on the oldest bat skeletons ever recovered. The study on the extinct bat, which lived in Wyoming about 52 million years ago, supports the idea that bats diversified rapidly on multiple continents during this time.
A photo of one of the two newly described bat skeletons representing Icaronycteris gunnelli. This specimen, the holotype, is now in the American Museum of Natural History’s research collections. Credit: Mick Ellison/©AMNHIcaronycteris index“Paleontologists have collected so many bats that have been identified as, and we wondered if there were actually multiple species among these specimens,” said Tim Rietbergen, an evolutionary biologist at Naturalis.
“The Fossil Lake deposits of the Green River Formation are simply amazing because the conditions that created the paper-thin limestone layers also preserved nearly everything that settled to the lake’s bottom,” said Arvid Aase, park manager and curator at the Fossil Butte National Monument, in Wyoming. “One of these bat specimens was found lower in the section than all other bats, making this species older than any of the other bat species recovered from this deposit.
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