''Icarops'' is an extinct, possibly
paraphyletic genus of
mystacine bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...
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
__NOTOC__
The Lake Ngapakaldi to Lake Palankarinna Fossil Area is a group of fossil sites located in the Australian state of South Australia within the Tirari Desert in the north-eastern part of the state's Far North region. The group has an ...
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
Australia. The
fossils date from the late
Oligocene to early
Miocene.
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".
A study describing the genus ''
Vulcanops
''Vulcanops jennyworthyae'' is an extinct species of bat that lived during the Miocene in New Zealand, a large burrowing microchiropteran that probably ate arthropods and plant material around twenty million years before present. It is the type ...
'' 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.
The described species are
* ''Icarops''
:*''Icarops aenae''
:*''Icarops breviceps''
:*''Icarops paradox''
Terrestriality
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.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5985076
Miocene mammals of Australia
Miocene bats
Oligocene bats
Prehistoric bat genera
Mystacinidae
Riversleigh fauna
Mammals of New Zealand