MarkGelbart Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Scientists found 4 vampire bat bones (Desmodus stocki) in New Trout Cave, West Virginia and they radiocarbon dated to 29,000 years B.P. This is pretty close to the glacier. Modern vampire bats are tropical creatures unable to withstand temperatures below 50 degrees. The scientists speculate that despite the glacier, winters may have been milder during the ice age. They also think the larger size is indicative of an adapatation to colder weather. I hypothesize that they could have migrated north during the summer. Previously, Pleistocene vampire bat specimens had only been reported from Florida. This is a big range extension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkchaser Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Very interesting. Cave finds are great but then again you have to dig through all the guano. Ugh. RAWR! I am zeee dead bobcat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatorman Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 Pretty neat. That time frame corresponds to one of the significant minima of the Wisconsin(Würm for our European friends) ice sheets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nicholas Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 I tend to love bat fossils, this seems to me like a significant find. I'll do some more digging into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Scientists found 4 vampire bat bones (Desmodus stocki) in New Trout Cave, West Virginia and they radiocarbon dated to 29,000 years B.P.This is pretty close to the glacier. Modern vampire bats are tropical creatures unable to withstand temperatures below 50 degrees. The scientists speculate that despite the glacier, winters may have been milder during the ice age. They also think the larger size is indicative of an adapatation to colder weather. I hypothesize that they could have migrated north during the summer. Previously, Pleistocene vampire bat specimens had only been reported from Florida. This is a big range extension. Pleistocene vampire bat bones have also been reported from Potter Creek Cave, California (Hutchison, 1967) and I think I saw an article on a find from Virginia a few years ago. In case you're interested: Hutchison, J.H. 1967. A Pleistocene Vampire Bat (Desmodus stocki) from Potter Creek Cave, Shasta County, California. PaleoBios. No. 3. July 15, 1967. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkGelbart Posted March 31, 2009 Author Share Posted March 31, 2009 Thanks. I will check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 (edited) Thanks. I will check it out. There are two paragraphs regarding vampire bats within a section on bats within this article: Morgan, G.S. 2008. Vertebrate Fauna and Geochronology of the Great American Biotic Interchange in North America. In "Neogene Mammals" Lucas, S.G., G.S. Morgan, J.A. Spielmann, and D.R. Prothero (eds.). New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 44. The paragraphs note occurrences in several states in the U.S. and Mexico plus sites in Central and South America. Edited September 21, 2009 by siteseer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkGelbart Posted September 29, 2009 Author Share Posted September 29, 2009 There are two paragraphs regarding vampire bats within a section on bats within this article: Morgan, G.S. 2008. Vertebrate Fauna and Geochronology of the Great American Biotic Interchange in North America. In "Neogene Mammals" Lucas, S.G., G.S. Morgan, J.A. Spielmann, and D.R. Prothero (eds.). New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 44. The paragraphs note occurrences in several states in the U.S. and Mexico plus sites in Central and South America. Thanks Again, I'll check this out too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholas Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Very interesting and sheds a lot of light on the survivability of creatures thought to be sensitive of the cold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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