Miniopterus tao
| Miniopterus tao Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Chiroptera |
| Family: | Miniopteridae |
| Genus: | Miniopterus |
| Species: | M. tao
|
| Binomial name | |
| Miniopterus tao Wołoszyn, 1986
| |
Miniopterus tao is a
talonids (back groups of cusps) on the lower molars. The back part of the mandible is relatively low and on it, the coronoid and condyloid processes
are about equally high. The average length of the mandible is 12.0 mm.
Taxonomy
In 1934, Chinese paleontologist
Myotis to Miniopterus.[1] In a 1986 paper, however, Bronisław Wołoszyn described the population as a new species, Miniopterus tao, after examining two mandibles in the collections of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He did place the species in the "schreibersii group" of Miniopterus,[2] but considered it unlikely to be ancestral to living M. schreibersii.[3] The specific name, tao, refers to the Chinese philosophical concept, the Tao.[2]
Description
Wołoszyn described the species on the basis of two mandibles, one damaged and with the third
angular process (at the lower back corner of the jaw) is more robust.[5] In M. rummeli, the back part of the mandible is higher and the coronoid process is distinctly higher than the condyloid process.[6]
The preserved
talonids (the cusp groups at the back of the teeth).[9]
The total length of the mandible ranges from 11.6 to 12.4 mm and averages 12.0 mm in ten specimens, the coronoid process is 3.1 to 3.3 mm high, averaging 3.2 mm, and the length of the molar row is 4.0 to 4.4 mm, averaging 4.2 mm.[10]
Range
Miniopterus tao has only been recorded from Locality 1 at Zhoukoudian; Locality 3 contains a smaller Miniopterus identified as M. schreibersii.Rhinolophus and Myotis among bats, in addition to Homo erectus.[1]
References
- ^ a b Kowalski and Li, 1963, pp. 148, 150
- ^ a b c Wołoszyn, 1986, p. 205
- ^ a b Wołoszyn, 1986, p. 209
- ^ Ziegler, 2003, p. 487
- ^ a b Wołoszyn, 1986, p. 206
- ^ Ziegler, 2003, pp. 484–485, 487
- ^ Wołoszyn, 1986, p. 208
- ^ Wołoszyn, 1986, pp. 208–209; Ziegler, 2003, p. 487
- ^ a b Wołoszyn, 1986, p. 207
- ^ Wołoszyn, 1986, table 2
Literature cited
- Kowalski, K. and Li, C.-K. 1963. Remarks on the fauna of bats (Chiroptera) from locality 1 at Choukoutien. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 7(2):144–150.
- Wołoszyn, B.W. 1986. A new species of long-winged bat Miniopterus tao sp. n. (Mammalia: Chiroptera) from locality 1 at Choukoutien, China. Acta Universitatis Carolinae, Geologica 1986(2):205–211.
- Ziegler, R. 2003. Bats (Chiroptera, Mammalia) from Middle Miocene karstic fissure fillings of Petersbuch near Eichstätt, Southern Franconian Alb (Bavaria) (subscription required). Geobios 36(4):447–490.