Palaeochiropterygidae

Palaeochiropterygidae Temporal range: Ypresian to Lutetian (Middle Eocene) PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Palaeochiropteryx tupaiodon from the Jura Museum of Eichstätt, Germany.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Chiroptera
(unranked):	Microchiropteramorpha
Family:	†Palaeochiropterygidae Revilliod, 1917
Type genus
†Palaeochiropteryx Revilliod, 1917
Genera[1]
See text.

Palaeochirpterygidae 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. Palaeochirpterygidae was merged into Archaeonycteridae by Kurten and Anderson in 1980, but modern authorities specializing in bat fossils maintain the distinction between the two.^[1][2] It was classified to the unranked clade Microchiropteramorpha by Smith et al. in 2007.^[3]

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

Genera

It contains the following genera. The list may be incomplete or inaccurate:^[1][2]

• †Cecilionycteris Heller, 1935

• †Cecilionycteris prisca Heller, 1935 - Geiseltal (Lutetian), Germany

• †Lapichiropteryx Tong, 1997

• †Lapichiropteryx xiei Tong, 1997 - Yuanqu Basin (Ypresian?), China

• †Microchiropteryx Smith et al., 2007

• †Microchiropteryx folieae Smith et al., 2007 - Vastan Lignite Mines (Ypresian), India

• †Palaeochiropteryx Revilliod, 1917

• †Palaeochiropteryx tupaiodon Revilliod, 1917 - Messel Pit (Lutetian), Germany
• †Palaeochiropteryx spiegeli Revilliod, 1917 - Messel Pit (Lutetian), Germany

References