High bat (Chiroptera) diversity in the Early Eocene of India |
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Authors: | Thierry Smith Rajendra S Rana Pieter Missiaen Kenneth D Rose Ashok Sahni Hukam Singh Lachham Singh |
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Institution: | Department of Palaeontology, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, rue Vautier 29, Brussels, Belgium. Thierry.Smith@naturalsciences.be |
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Abstract: | The geographic origin of bats is still unknown, and fossils of earliest bats are rare and poorly diversified, with, maybe,
the exception of Europe. The earliest bats are recorded from the Early Eocene of North America, Europe, North Africa and Australia
where they seem to appear suddenly and simultaneously. Until now, the oldest record in Asia was from the Middle Eocene. In
this paper, we report the discovery of the oldest bat fauna of Asia dating from the Early Eocene of the Cambay Formation at
Vastan Lignite Mine in Western India. The fossil taxa are described on the basis of well-preserved fragments of dentaries
and lower teeth. The fauna is highly diversified and is represented by seven species belonging to seven genera and at least
four families. Two genera and five species are new. Three species exhibit very primitive dental characters, whereas four others
indicate more advanced states. Unexpectedly, this fauna presents strong affinities with the European faunas from the French
Paris Basin and the German Messel locality. This could result from the limited fossil record of bats in Asia, but could also
suggest new palaeobiogeographic scenarios involving the relative position of India during the Early Eocene. |
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Keywords: | Chiroptera Mammalia Early Eocene Vastan India |
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