re: origin of bats

[David Peters <davidpeters@att.net>]

thank you Tim, for the reference:

TW wrote: Yes, exactly. The paper that David (Marjanovic) is referring to - and 
which David (Peters) really needs to read - is...


Nancy B. Simmons, Kevin L. Seymour, Jörg Habersetzer, & Gregg F. Gunnell 
(2007). Primitive Early Eocene bat from Wyoming and the evolution of flight and 
echolocation. Nature 451: 818-821


Placing this bat, Onychonycteris, into an established cladogram shifts no taxa. 
Yes, indeed it is the most primitive bat in the cladogram. The civets 
Protictis, Nandinia and Ptilocercus remain non-volent outgroup taxa.

With regard to non-volant locomotory abilities: Onychonycteris hyper-folds its 
hands at the wrist/metacarpal joints, like all bats do. Evidently it was not 
using its hands like most quadrupedal tetrapods do. And the bipedal hypothesis 
still stands. Claws and all. 

Body parts don't disappear immediately after cessation of use. But they do 
disappear eventually. Case in point: Fruit bat (flying fox) manual digit II 
ungual. Analogy: hind limbs on primitive whales.



 David Peters

davidpeters@att.net