Which came first-flight or sonar? "Missing Link" bat fossil gives researchers the answer.The discovery of a remarkably well preserved fossil of the most primitive bat species ever known has revealed new information about how bats evolved. Unearthed Unearthed is the name of a Triple J project to find and "dig up" (hence the name) hidden talent in regional Australia. Unearthed has had three incarnations - they first visited each region of Australia where Triple J had a transmitter - 41 regions in all. in 2003 in southwestern Wyoming, the new species, named Onychonycteris finneyi, was featured in a cover story in the prestigious journal Nature in February. Co-authored by the ROM's own Dr. Kevin Seymour and researchers from the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and Germany, the study documents the bat's surprising features-unlike modern bats, this one has claws on every finger, and its limb proportions are more like those of climbing mammals that hang under branches than other bats. "Up until now, all fossil bats looked pretty much like living bats," says Dr. Seymour. "For the first time, we have a glimpse of what an ancestral bat looked like, and it surprised us." "When we first saw it, we knew it was special," notes lead author Nancy Simmons, chair of the Division of Vertebrate Zoology zoology, branch of biology concerned with the study of animal life. From earliest times animals have been vitally important to man; cave art demonstrates the practical and mystical significance animals held for prehistoric man. and curator at the American Museum of Natural History American Museum of Natural History, incorporated in New York City in 1869 to promote the study of natural science and related subjects. Buildings on its present site were opened in 1877. in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . "It's clearly a bat, but unlike any previously known. In many respects this bat is a missing link between bats and their non-flying ancestors." The most exciting discovery, though, was what Onychonycteris revealed about flight. Its long fingers, keeled breastbone breast·bone n. See sternum. , and other features indicate that this species, like modern bats, could fly under its own power. But at the same time the bat lacks the ear and throat features common to all echolocating bats. Just when echolocation echolocation Physiological process for locating distant or invisible objects (such as prey) by emitting sound waves that are reflected back to the emitter by the objects. Echolocation is used by an animal to orient itself, avoid obstacles, find food, and interact socially. (sonar) and flapping flight developed in bats was unknown and whether sonar or flight came first had been widely debated. "There were no specimens to address this issue," says Dr. Seymour. "Now, the combination of features seen in this species finally gives us an answer: flying evolved first and echolocation must have evolved later." There are only two known specimens of Onychonycteris. The most important is in the ROM's collections and a cast of the second is on permanent display in the Museum's new Gallery of the Age of Mammals. |
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