Archaeonycteridae

Archaeonycteridae (formerly spelled Archaeonycterididae) 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..^[1][2] 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.^[3][4]

They existed from the Ypresian to the Lutetian ages of the Middle Eocene epoch (55.8 to 40.4 million years ago).^[1]

Genera

It contains four genera. The following list may be incomplete or inaccurate:^[1]

• †Archaeonycteris Revilliod, 1917

• †Archaeonycteris trigonodon Revilliod, 1917 - Messel Pit (Lutetian), Germany
• †Archaeonycteris pollex Storch & Habersetzer, 1988 - Messel Pit (Lutetian), Germany
• †Archaeonycteris brailloni Russell et al., 1973 - Avenay quarry (Ypresian), France
• †Archaeonycteris storchi Smith et al., 2007 - Vastan Lignite Mines (Ypresian), India

• †Australonycteris Hand, Novacek, Godthelp & Archer, 1994

• †Australonycteris clarkae Hand, Novacek, Godthelp & Archer, 1994 - Murgon fossil site (Ypresian), Australia

• †Matthesia Smith and Storch 1981

• †Matthesia germanica
• †Matthesia insolita

• †Protonycteris Smith et al., 2007

• †Protonycteris gunnelli Smith et al., 2007 - Vastan Lignite Mine (Ypresian), India

References