Archaeonycteris trigonodon Revilliod, 1917

Middle Eocene

Lutetian

Messel near Darmstadt

Hessia

Germany

As far as I know, four bat genera with a total of 8 species are known from Messel: Palaeochiropteryx tupaiodon and P. spiegeli, Archaeonycteris trigonodon and A. pollex, Trachypteron franzeni, Hassianycteris messelense, H. magna and Hassianycteris? revilliodi. The genus Palaeochiropteryx is the most common and smallest bat from Messel with a wingspan of around 26 to 29cm. Archaeonycteris is much rarer and somewhat larger - the wingspan is about 37cm. The largest bat in Messel is Hassianycteris magna with a wingspan of almost 50cm.

Lit.:
Revilliod, P. (1917): Fledermäuse aus der Braunkohle von Messel bei Darmstadt. Abhandlungen der Großherzoglichen Hessischen Geologischen Landesanstalt zu Darmstadt, 7 (2), 162-201.

Richter, G. & Storch, G. (1980): Beiträge zur Ernährungsbiologie eozäner Fledermäuse aus der "Grube Messel". Natur und Museum, 110 (12), p. 353-367.

Simmons, N.B. & Geisler, J.H.(1998): Phylogenetic relationships of Icaronycteris, Archaeonycteris, Hassianycteris and Palaeochiropteryx to extant bat lineages, with comments on the Evolution of echolocation and foraging strategies in Microchiroptera. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 235: 1-182.

Russel, D.E. & Sigé, B (1969): RÉVISION DES CHIROPTÈRES LUTÉTIENS DE MESSEL (HESSE, ALLEMAGNE). Palaeovertebrata, Montpellier, 1969, 3 : 63-182, 29 fig., 6 pl.