Description

Hipposideros schlosseri
Late Eocene
Phosphorites de Quercy
Bach, France
7mm bat maxilla with three teeth.

Mammal, Chiroptera.

Hipposideros is a genus of bats belonging to the Hipposideridae, the family including Old World leaf-nosed bats. It is one of the oldest modern genera dating back to the middle Eocene of Europe but is perhaps best-known as a fossil from the Quercy Phosporites localities in France.

The fossil record of bats dates back to the earliest Eocene, but because a diversity of genera have been described from that time, their history certainly extends back into the Paleocene. Unfortunately, bat bones are as fragile as bird bones. Other than some spectacular finds of complete skeletons from the late-early Eocene and Middle Eocene, bat fossils are largely limited to teeth and jaws even from the Oligocene to Pleistocene.

Fossil bat teeth and jaws appear on the market only occasionally. A bat tooth is the kind of thing that appeals to many collectors – not just mammal specialists.