Witwatia
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''Witwatia'' (from the Egyptian Arabic ''Wit Wat'' meaning "large, flapping
wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...
s") is an
extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of giant bat that contained two species which lived in the Al Fayyum in Egypt during the late
Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...
(
Priabonian The Priabonian is, in the ICS's geologic timescale, the latest age or the upper stage of the Eocene Epoch or Series. It spans the time between . The Priabonian is preceded by the Bartonian and is followed by the Rupelian, the lowest stage ...
epoch) and one species which lived in
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
during the early Eocene. It is known from a lower jaw and teeth. Three species have been named: the
type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
''W. schlosseri'', ''W. eremicus'' and ''W. sigei''.


Ecology

These were large-sized carnivorous bats, possessing large canines, robust jaws and slicing molars. Opportunistic
frugivory A frugivore ( ) is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance ...
has been suggested, but since rejected.Nancy B. Simmons; Erik R. Seiffert; Gregg F. Gunnell (2016). "A New Family of Large Omnivorous Bats (Mammalia, Chiroptera) from the Late Eocene of the Fayum Depression, Egypt, with Comments on Use of the Name “Eochiroptera”". ''American Museum Novitates'' 3857: 1–43. doi:10.1206/3857.1. The largest forms such as ''Witwatia schlosseri'' were comparable in size and possibly ecology to the modern '' Vampyrum spectrum''. ''Witwatia'' is not related to ''
Aegyptonycteris ''Aegyptonycteris'' ("Egyptian bat") is a genus of extinct bat from the Late Eocene of North Africa. It is currently known from a single specimen (holotype CGM 83740) from the Birket Qarun Formation in the Fayum Depression in western Egypt. ''A ...
'', a contemporary genus of similarly sized giant bat, indicating that the Fayum Depression environment was home to at least two lineages of large-sized chiropterans that developed gigantism independently.


See also

* Fayyum (fossil deposit)


References


External links

*http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/538310/ Eocene bats Prehistoric bat genera Eocene mammals of Africa Fossil taxa described in 2008 {{paleo-bat-stub