Icarops is an extinct, possibly paraphyletic genus of mystacine bat with three described species. The genus is known from fossils found at Riversleigh, north-western Queensland, Bullock Creek, Northern Territory, and Lake Ngapakaldi to Lake Palankarinna Fossil Area South Australia Australia. The fossils date from the late Oligocene to early Miocene.[1]
| Icarops | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Chiroptera |
| Family: | Mystacinidae |
| Genus: | †Icarops Hand et al., 1998[1] |
| Type species | |
| Icarops paradox | |
| Species | |
| |
The name was derived from a figure of Greek mythology, Icarus, who the authors noted, "flew towards the sun, in reference to the ancient mystacinid that flew eastwards from Australia to New Zealand".[3]
A study describing the genus Vulcanops renders Icarops paraphyletic towards the rest of Mystacinidae, with I. paradox being closer to New Zealand mystacines than to other Australian mystacines, which form an independent clade.[4]
The described species are
- Icarops
- Icarops aenae
- Icarops breviceps
- Icarops paradox
Terrestriality edit
Like its modern relatives, the Mystacina short-tailed bats, Icarops shows adaptations to foraging on the ground. This is in spite of occurring alongside various terrestrial tetrapods, including other mammals such as marsupials and monotremes. This shows that the terrestrial habits of mystacines did not evolve due to lack of competition with other mammals in New Zealand, predating the island's colonisation and having evolved on mainland Australia.[5]
References edit
- ^ a b Hand, S.J.; et al. (1998). "Mystacinid Bats (Microchiroptera) from the Australian Tertiary". Journal of Paleontology. 72 (3): 538–545. JSTOR 1306652.
- ^ Mikko's Phylogeny Archive Yangochiroptera. Accessed 2008-01-11
- ^ Hand, S.; et al. (2005). "Australian Oligo-Miocene Mystacinids (Microchiroptera):upper dentition, new taxa and divergence of New Zealand species". Geobios. 38: 339–352.
- ^ Hand, Suzanne J.; Beck, Robin M. D.; Archer, Michael; Simmons, Nancy B.; Gunnell, Gregg F.; Scofield, R. Paul; Tennyson, Alan J. D.; De Pietri, Vanesa L.; Salisbury, Steven W.; Worthy, Trevor H. (10 January 2018). "A new, large-bodied omnivorous bat (Noctilionoidea: Mystacinidae) reveals lost morphological and ecological diversity since the Miocene in New Zealand". Scientific Reports. 8 (1). doi:10.1038/s41598-017-18403-w. PMC 5762892. PMID 29321543.
- ^ Hand, Suzanne J; Weisbecker, Vera; Beck, Robin MD; Archer, Michael; Godthelp, Henk; Tennyson, Alan JD; Worthy, Trevor H (2009). "Bats that walk: a new evolutionary hypothesis for the terrestrial behaviour of New Zealand's endemic mystacinids". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 9 (1): 169. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-9-169. hdl:2440/51102.