Archaeopteropus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of bats}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = Early Oligocene, {{fossil range|34|33}} | image = Archaeopteropus transiens.JPG | image_caption = Cast of holotype, Museo di Storia Naturale di Verona | grandparent_authority = Simpson, 1945 | genus = Archaeopteropus | parent_authority = Meschinelli, 1903 | species = transiens | authority = Meschinelli, 1903 }}

'''''Archaeopteropus''''' ("ancient ''Pteropus''") is an extinct genus of large bat known from the Oligocene of Europe. It contains a single species, '''''A. transiens''''', known from the Early Oligocene of Italy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Archaeopteropus transiens |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=135790&is_real_user=1 |website=The Paleobiology Database}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Meschinelli |first=Luigi |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Collected_papers/pnQuAAAAIAAJ? |title=Collected papers |date=1903 |language=it}}</ref> It is the only member of the family '''Archaeopteropodidae'''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jones |first=Matthew F. |last2=Beard |first2=K. Christopher |last3=Simmons |first3=Nancy B. |date=2024-05-02 |title=Phylogeny and systematics of early Paleogene bats |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-024-09705-8 |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |language=en |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=18 |doi=10.1007/s10914-024-09705-8 |issn=1573-7055}}</ref> (sometimes treated as the subfamily '''Archaeopteropodinae''').<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Pandolfi |first1=Luca |last2=Carnevale |first2=Giorgio |last3=Costeur |first3=Loic |last4=Favero |first4=Letizia Del |last5=Fornasiero |first5=Mariagabriella |last6=Ghezzo |first6=Elena |last7=Maiorino |first7=Leonardo |last8=Mietto |first8=Paolo |last9=Piras |first9=Paolo |last10=Rook |first10=Lorenzo |last11=Sansalone |first11=Gabriele |last12=Kotsakis |first12=Tassos |date=2017-02-01 |title=Reassessing the earliest Oligocene vertebrate assemblage of Monteviale (Vicenza, Italy) |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2016.1147170 |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |language=en |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=83–127 |bibcode=2017JSPal..15...83P |doi=10.1080/14772019.2016.1147170 |issn=1477-2019 |url-access=subscription|hdl=11380/1318338 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

== Taxonomy == The taxonomy of ''Archaeopteropus'' has been contested since its description. As its name suggests, it was initially considered to be an ancient fruit bat related to the flying foxes (genus ''Pteropus''). This would make it one of the oldest known fruit bats in the fossil record, and the only one known from an articulated fossil skeleton. Numerous lines of evidence have been used to validate this placement, including its very large size, broad plagiopatagium (wing membrane connecting the finger and legs), claw morphology, and long hindlimbs. However, ''Archaeopteropus'' also retains a bony calcar and a clawed third phalanx on the index finger, two traits which are only present in non-flying fox microbats. Thus, other studies have placed it as a stem-member of the microbat lineage that convergently evolved a fruit bat-like morphology.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Schutt |first=William A. |last2=Simmons |first2=Nancy B. |date=1998-03-01 |title=Morphology and Homology of the Chiropteran Calcar, with Comments on the Phylogenetic Relationships of Archaeopteropus |url=https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020566902992 |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |language=en |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=1–32 |doi=10.1023/A:1020566902992 |issn=1573-7055|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gunnell |first=Gregg F. |last2=Simmons |first2=Nancy B. |date=2005-06-01 |title=Fossil Evidence and the Origin of Bats |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-005-6945-2 |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |language=en |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=209–246 |doi=10.1007/s10914-005-6945-2 |issn=1573-7055}}</ref>

== Description == left|thumb|Cast of holotype slab and counterpart With a total snout-to-tail length of {{Convert|27.7|cm|ft}}<ref name=":3" /> and an estimated extended wingspan of {{Convert|82 to 90|cm|ft}}, ''Archaeopteropus'' is one of the largest known fossil bats, and the most completely known for its size.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> The diet of ''Archaeopteropus'' is uncertain due to the badly-crushed nature of the skull and dentition, although at least some of the few remaining teeth show morphology that appears to potentially reflect an insectivorous diet.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Details - The case for chiropteran monophyly. American Museum novitates ; no. 3103 - Biodiversity Heritage Library |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/93230 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250322212201/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/93230 |archive-date=2025-03-22 |access-date=2026-05-01 |website=www.biodiversitylibrary.org |language=en}}</ref> However, its limb bones also show clear adaptations for a highly arboreal lifestyle of climbing trees, similar to modern fruit bats.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Adams |first=R. A. |last2=Carter |first2=R. T. |last3=Hardgrave |first3=A. J. |date=2025 |title=Monkeying around with bat scapulae: Old World fruit bats show arboreal adaptations of primates lacking in New World fruit bats |url=https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jzo.70000 |journal=Journal of Zoology |language=en |volume=326 |issue=1 |pages=54–64 |doi=10.1111/jzo.70000 |issn=0952-8369}}</ref>

== Discovery == The only known specimen of ''Archaeopteropus'', consisting of a partial articulated skeleton and counterpart, was described in 1903 and deposited at the Musei Civici Vicenza, where it was later destroyed during the bombing of Vicenza in World War II. However, prior to this, casts were made of the holotype specimens.<ref name=":1" /> All later studies of this genus are based on these casts and photographs of the holotype.<ref name=":0" />

== Paleoecology == ''Archaeopteropus'' is known from the Monteviale fossil site, an lignite deposit near the town of the same name deposited at the very beginning of the Oligocene (immediately after the regional Grande Coupure faunal turnover), as part of the Castelgomberto Limestone formation.<ref name=":0" /> It is the most well-studied animal from this site, where it coexisted with other animals such as the rhinoceros ''Epiaceratherium'' and the hippopotamus relative ''Anthracotherium''. This site appears to have been deposited in an estuarine environment, and is closely associated with the nearby sites of Monte Bolca despite its significantly younger age.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Il chirottero di Monteviale |url=https://www.lestoriedimonteviale.it/oligocene-e-pre-storia-di-monteviale/il-chirottero-di-monteviale/ |access-date=2026-05-01 |website=lestoriedimonteviale |language=it-IT}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:Prehistoric bat genera Category:Monotypic prehistoric mammal genera Category:Oligocene bats Category:Rupelian genera Category:Oligocene mammals of Europe Category:Fossils of Italy Category:Fossil taxa described in 1903