Hassianycteris Explained

Hassianycteris is an extinct genus of Early Eocene (Ypresian) to Middle Eocene (Lutetian) bats from the Hassianycterididae with four or five known species: the type (H. messelensis), H. magna, and H. revilliodi, all found in the Messel pit, Germany,^{[1] [2]} H. kumari, found in the Cambay Shale Formation (Vastan Lignite Mine), India,^[3] and the possible fifth species "H." joeli, found in the Kortijk Clay Formation, Belgium,^[4] which may instead belong to Onychonycteridae. The Messel bats Palaeochiropteryx and Hassianycteris (alive roughly 48 million years ago) are the first fossil mammals whose colouration has been discovered: both were reddish-brown when alive.^{[5] [6]}

Notes and References

1. Smith, J.D. Storch, G. (1981): New Middle Eocene bats from “Grube Messel” near Darmstadt, W-Germany. Senckenbergiana biologica, 61 (3/4): 153-167.
2. Richter, G. & Storch, G. (1980): Beiträge zur Ernährungsbiologie eozäner Fledermäuse aus der "Grube Messel". Natur und Museum, 110 (12), p. 353-367
3. T. Smith, R. S. Rana, P. Missiaen, K. D. Rose, A. Sahni, H. Singh, and L. Singh. 2007. High bat (Chiroptera) diversity in the Early Eocene of India. Naturwissenschaften 94(12):1003-1009
4. T. Smith and R. Smith. 2003. Terrestrial mammals as biostratigraphic indicators in upper Paleocene-lower Eocene marine deposits of the southern North Sea Basin. Geological Society of America Special Paper 369:513-520
5. Web site: Paleontologists Determine Original Color of Extinct Bats . 29 September 2015 . 10 September 2017 . SciNews.
6. C. . Colleary . A. . Dolocanc . J. . Gardnerd . Suresh . Singha . M. . Wuttkee . 2015 . Chemical, experimental, and morphological evidence for diagenetically altered melanin in exceptionally preserved fossils . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 112 . 41 . 12592–12597 . 10.1073/pnas.1509831112 . 4611652 . 2015PNAS..11212592C . 26417094. free .