Two fossilized bat skeletons unearthed in western Wyoming represent a new species and are the oldest set of bat bones yet discovered, researchers say.
The incredibly complete fossils of Icaronycteris gunnelli, which show all the animals’ bones in lifelike positions, are from limestone rocks that accumulated as lake sediments about 52.5 million years ago, vertebrate paleontologist Tim Rietbergen and colleagues report April 12 in PLOS ONE. Skeletons of the few other bat species, including another one from the Icaronycteris genus, found in the same limestones, called the Green River Formation, were preserved at least 40 centimeters above the new fossils — and are thus younger.
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