It ’s the stuff nightmares are made of : a giant star , foraging , scurrying bat roaming through the wood of New Zealand ( where else ? ) . Turns out , that nightmare is really a reality .
A team of outside scientists has discovered the fogey remains of a giant out burrowing bat in Central Otago on the South Island of New Zealand .
So , what make Vulcanops jennyworthyaeachiroptophobe’snightmare ?
For newbie , at 40 Hans C. J. Gram ( 1.4 ounce ) , the forest floor dweller was three times turgid than the fair bat . Fossilized teeth , find along with bones , indicate the species was omnivorous . As if that was n’t upset enough , the chiropteran did n’t just fly like its Kiwi relative of today , it crawled through the forest scurrying , scavenging , and searching for plant life and animate being solid food .
It also shared many characteristics with modern bats , although burrowing bats are more closely link up to bats in South America than to those dwell in the southwest Pacific , according to the study ’s first author , Professor Sue Hand .
" They are concern to lamia bats , ghost - faced bats , fishing and batrachian - eat bats , and nectar - feeding bats , and go to a bat superfamily that once sweep the southern landmasses of Australia , New Zealand , South America and maybe Antarctica , " order Hand in astatement .
The newly - discover species is part of a genus of tunnel chiropteran firstdiscovered in 2015 . It was the first young bat genus species unearth in New Zealand in more than 150 years , indicating “ for the first time thatMyastacina(burrowing or shortly - tailed ) bat have been present in New Zealand ” for more than 16 million old age “ residing in habitats with very similar plant life lifetime and intellectual nourishment sources . "
The determination render more insight into the morphological and ecological diversity of theMiocene Era23 to 5.3 million days ago . The dodo remains were find in sediment from the prehistoric Lake Manuherikia , dating the squash racket back 19 to 16 million year ago . During this clock time New Zealand was an estimated6 - 7 ° C warmerthan today .
While burrowing bats were once find in Australia , today they only be in New Zealand where they are also theonly terrestrial mammalian . To date , there are 187 genus of bats and as many as1,200 species .
go by theUniversity of New South Wales - Sydney , the discovery was published inScientific Reportsand include scientists from the University of Salford , Flinders University , Queensland University , Canterbury Museum , Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarew , the American Museum of Natural History , and Duke University .
And if you were wondering , Vulcanops jennyworthyaewas appoint firstly for the Roman Catholic graven image of fire and secondly after its discoverer , Jennifer Worthy ( who is obviously not afraid of bat ) .
