Mystacina

Mystacina
Temporal range: Miocene – Recent
19–recent Ma
New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat, (Mystacina tuberculata)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Mystacinidae
Genus: Mystacina
Gray in Dieffenbach, 1843
Type species
Mystacina tuberculata
Gray, 1843
Species

Mystacina is the sole surviving genus of the Mystacinidae family of bats. It has three known species, of which only the New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata) is confirmed to survive today. The closely related New Zealand greater short-tailed bat (Mystacina robusta) has not had a confirmed sighting since 1965 and is thought to be extinct.[1] The third species, Mystacina miocenalis, is known from the Middle Miocene, some 19–16 million years ago.[2][3]

  1. ^ Blackburn (1965). "Muttonbird islands diary". Notornis. 12 (4): 191–207.
  2. ^ Hand, S.J. (2015). "Miocene Fossils Reveal Ancient Roots for New Zealand's Endemic Mystacina (Chiroptera) and Its Rainforest Habitat". PLOS ONE. 10 (6): e0128871. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1028871H. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128871. PMC 4470663. PMID 26083758.
  3. ^ Thompson, Helen. "16 Million Years Ago This Giant Bat Walked the Jungles of New Zealand". Smithsonian.