Icarops

Icarops
Temporal range: Late Oligocene to Early Miocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Mystacinidae
Genus: †Icarops
Hand et al., 1998[1]
Type species
Icarops paradox
Species
  • Icarops aenae
  • Icarops breviceps
  • Icarops paradox [2]

Icarops is an extinct, possibly paraphyletic genus of mystacine bat 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 South Australia Australia. The fossils date from the late Oligocene to early Miocene.[1]

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".[3]

A study describing the genus Vulcanops 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.[4]

The described species are

  • Icarops
  • Icarops aenae
  • Icarops breviceps
  • Icarops paradox
  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Hand1998 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mikko was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hand2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hand2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).