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Showing results for tags 'icaronycteris index'.
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Thought I would share this here as well as in Blake's post. You can stop by the Coliseum show in Denver and see it in person at (FossildudeCo ) Blake's booth. @FossilDudeCO Icaronycteris Index, found at our American Fossil quarry in August, 2017! Icaronycteris Index is one of the oldest bat species on the planet. It lived some 51 million years ago in the Eocene epoch in Wyoming. Icaronycteris was a primitive bat, emerging very early in the age of mammals. Modern bats have only a single claw on their first digit, but Icaronycteris also had another one on the second digit. Icaronycteris also lacked a uropatagium, the flap of skin in between the legs of modern bats that also includes the tail. It has a long tail, a carryover in its evolution from a land dwelling mammal. Icaronycteris also had a less rigid skeletal structure. Finally even though Icaronycteris was an insectivore, it had a full set of teeth that were relatively unspecialized beyond the basic mammalian form. Later bats would develop more specialized teeth that were also fewer in number than Icaronycteris had. It was discovered in our quarry in August 2017 and has been prepped to perfection under the microscope. It has a great deal of soft tissue preservation including muscle and membrane on the right wing, tendons, and even cartilage connecting the sternum to the ribs. It is an amazing specimen, right down to the claws on its feet. Enjoy Seth
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