Microbats constitute the suborder Microchiroptera within the order Chiroptera (bats). Bats have long been differentiated into Megachiroptera (megabats) and Microchiroptera, based on their size, the use of echolocation by the Microchiroptera and other features; molecular evidence suggests a somewhat different subdivision, as the microbats have been shown to be a paraphyletic group.
The spectral bat, also called the great false vampire bat, great spectral bat, American false vampire bat or Linnaeus's false vampire bat, is a large, carnivorous leaf-nosed bat found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. It is the only member of the genus Vampyrum; its closest living relative is the big-eared woolly bat. It is the largest bat species in the New World, as well as the largest carnivorous bat: its wingspan is 0.7–1.0 m (2.3–3.3 ft). It has a robust skull and teeth, with which it delivers a powerful bite to kill its prey. Birds are frequent prey items, though it may also consume rodents, insects, and other bats.
Creodonta is a former order of extinct carnivorous placental mammals that lived from the early Paleocene to the late Miocene epochs in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Originally thought to be a single group of animals ancestral to the modern Carnivora, this order is now usually considered a polyphyletic assemblage of two different groups, the Oxyaenids and the Hyenodonts, not a natural group. Oxyaenids are first known from the Palaeocene of North America, while hyaenodonts hail from the Palaeocene of Africa.
Icaronycteris is an extinct genus of microchiropteran (echolocating) bat that lived in the early Eocene, approximately 52.2 million years ago, making it the earliest bat genus known from complete skeletons, and the earliest known bat from North America. Multiple exceptionally preserved specimens, among the best preserved bat fossils, are known from the Green River Formation of North America. The best known species is I. index. Fragmentary material from France has also been tentatively placed within Icaronycteris as the second species I. menui. I. sigei is based on well-preserved fragments of dentaries and lower teeth found in Western India. In 2023, the species I. gunnelli also from the Green River Formation was distinguished from I. index, and I. menui and I. sigei were proposed to be removed from the genus due to them not being closely related.
Palaeochiropteryx is an extinct genus of bat from the Middle Eocene of Europe and North America. It contains three very similar species – Palaeochiropteryx tupaiodon and Palaeochiropteryx spiegeli, both from the famous Messel Pit of Germany, as well as Palaeochiropteryx sambuceus from the Sheep Pass Formation. They are usually found complete and exceptionally preserved, even retaining the outlines of their fur, ears, and wing membranes.
Onychonycteris is the more primitive of the three oldest bats known from complete skeletons, having lived in the area that is current day Wyoming during the Eocene period, 52.5 million years ago.
Archaeonycteris is an archaic bat genus whose fossilised remains have been found in Germany, France, England and India.
Australonycteris is an extinct and monotypic genus of microchiropteran bat with the single species Australonycteris clarkae. The species is known from fragmentary remains found at the Murgon fossil site, in south-eastern Queensland, dating to the early Eocene, 54.6 million years ago. It is the oldest bat from the Southern Hemisphere and one of the oldest bats in the world, and inhabited forests and swampy areas, with a diet of insects and possibly small fish.
Archaeonycteridae is a family of extinct bats. It was originally erected by the Swiss naturalist Pierre Revilliod as Archaeonycterididae to hold the genus Archaeonycteris. It was formerly classified under the superfamily Icaronycteroidea (disused) by Kurten and Anderson in 1980. In 2007, the spelling was corrected to Archaeonycteridae and it was reclassified to the unranked clade Microchiropteramorpha by Smith et al.. The family Palaeochiropterygidae was also merged into Archaeonycteridae by Kurten and Anderson, but modern authorities specializing in bat fossils maintain the distinction between the two.
Palaeochiropterygidae is a family of extinct bats. It was originally erected by the Swiss naturalist Pierre Revilliod in 1917 after discoveries of Palaeochiropteryx fossils from the Messel Pit of Germany. Palaeochiropterygidae was merged into Archaeonycteridae by Kurten and Anderson in 1980, but modern authorities specializing in bat fossils maintain the distinction between the two. It was classified to the unranked clade Microchiropteramorpha by Smith et al. in 2007.
The Willwood Formation is a sedimentary sequence deposited during the late Paleocene to early Eocene, or Clarkforkian, Wasatchian and Bridgerian in the NALMA classification.
The Wasatch Formation (Tw) is an extensive highly fossiliferous geologic formation stretching across several basins in Idaho, Montana Wyoming, Utah and western Colorado. It preserves fossils dating back to the Early Eocene period. The formation defines the Wasatchian or Lostcabinian, a period of time used within the NALMA classification, but the formation ranges in age from the Clarkforkian to Bridgerian.
Necromantis is an extinct genus of bat that lived during the Eocene. Its fossils are found in the Quercy Phosphorites Formation of France and the Djebel Chambi in Tunisia. Specimens of Necromantis are notable for their large size and specialization towards a predatory lifestyle.
Matthesia was a primitive bat genus in the family Palaeochiropterygidae. Matthesia is represented by two species known from the middle Lutetian of Geiseltal, Germany. It may be a junior synonym of Palaeochiropteryx.
Aegyptonycteris is a genus of extinct bat from the Late Eocene of North Africa. It is currently known from a single specimen from the Birket Qarun Formation in the Fayum Depression in western Egypt.
Microsyops is a plesiadapiform primate found in Middle Eocene in North America. It is in the family Microsyopidae, a plesiadapiform family characterized by distinctive lanceolate lower first incisors. It appears to have had a more developed sense of smell than other early primates. It is believed to have eaten fruit, and its fossils show the oldest known dental cavities in a mammal.
Bats are the only mammal capable of true flight. Bats use flight for capturing prey, breeding, avoiding predators, and long-distance migration. Bat wing morphology is often highly specialized to the needs of the species.
Propotto is an extinct monotypic genus of strepsirrhine primate from the early Miocene of Kenya. It contains one described species, Propotto leakeyi. Although long considered a pteropodid fruit-eating bat after spending a brief sojourn as a prehistoric relative of lorises, recent research shows it to be an extinct relative of the aye-aye.
Wyonycteris is a genus of small mammals that existed in the late Paleocene and early Eocene epochs. The type species is Wyonycteris chalix, which lived in Wyoming during the Clarkforkian North American Land Mammal Age of the Paleocene and was originally proposed to be an early form of insectivorous bat. Later re-examination of the material has put this alliance in doubt, and the genus has instead been proposed as belonging to the subfamily Placentidentinae, within the family Nyctitheriidae. Similar fossil material of the same time period found in Europe was later discovered and described as new species, Wyonycteris richardi.
Hassianycteris is an extinct genus of Early Eocene (Ypresian) to Middle Eocene (Lutetian) bats from the Hassianycterididae with four or five known species: the type, H. magna, and H. revilliodi, all found in the Messel pit, Germany, H. kumari, found in the Cambay Shale Formation, India, and the possible fifth species "H." joeli, found in the Kortijk Clay Formation, Belgium, which may instead belong to Onychonycteridae. The Messel bats Palaeochiropteryx and Hassianycteris are the first fossil mammals whose colouration has been discovered: both were reddish-brown when alive.
