Palaeontology

Giant prehistoric bat walked on all fours

By T.K. Randall
June 21, 2015 ·  7 comments

The bat lived millions of years ago in what is now New Zealand. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 F. C. Robiller Thought to have lived 16 million years ago, the new species walked around on all four limbs and inhabited subtropical rain forests where it thrived on a diet of insects, nectar, pollen and fruit.

Named Mystacina miocenalis, this prehistoric behemoth was significantly larger than any modern bat species and is thought to be a direct relative of Mystacina tuberculata which still exists today.

"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," said study lead author Suzanne Hand from the University of New South Wales.Its larger size however may have seen it favor ground-based food sources over fast-flying insects.

"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," said 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."

Source: CBS News | Comments (7)

Tags: Bat, New Zealand