Meet Vulcanops, Giant Burrowing Bat and Ghost of Gondwana

New fossil find Vulcanops hails from New Zealand, home of burrowing bats including the now-extinct Mystacina robusta, shown here in an artist rendering. (Credit Gavin Mouldey) Where might you expect to find fossils of a giant burrowing bat, three times bigger than today's average bat? Why, in St. Bathans, New Zealand, of course. Vulcanops jennyworthyae, which lived more than 15 million years ago, tells a fascinating story of a lost world. No offense to Jenny Worthy, the team member honored in the new fossil bat's species name, but I'm going to call this little beauty by its genus name, Vulcanops, coincidentally the first new bat genus discovered in New Zealand for well over a century. Vulcanops' bones and teeth were found in sediment that is dated to the earlier half of the Miocene Epoch, more specifically, about 16 to 19 million years ago. It was found in Central Otago, a ...