Kingdom Animalia Suborder Microchiroptera Species A. clarkae Phylum Chordata Order Bat | Class Mammalia Family †Archaeonycteridae Scientific name Australonycteris clarkae Rank Genus | |
Similar Bat, Archaeonycteris, Archaeonycteridae, Tingamarra, Palaeochiropteryx | ||
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 probably even small fish.
Australonycteris, one of the oldest known bats, is known from several upper and lower teeth, an edentulous lower jaw fragment, a partial periotic bone, and several postcranial fragments. It has a forearm length of 40–45 millimetres (1.6–1.8 in), making it a medium-size bat, and it could echolocate. Australonycteris displayed some differences in dental anatomy, compared to extant bats, and it is possible that it foraged for insects and small fish.