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1 February 2006 FOSSIL BATS FROM QUATERNARY DEPOSITS ON BERMUDA (CHIROPTERA: VESPERTILIONIDAE)
Frederick V. Grady, Storrs L. Olson
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Fossil remains of bats have been recovered from caves and fissures in Bermuda dating from middle Pleistocene to late Holocene. Three bones from 2 different localities are identified as eastern pipistrelle (Pipistrellus subflavus), which was not recorded from Bermuda until 2004. Remains of an individual eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis), from a 400,000-year-old beach deposit, imply that the migratory pattern in this species, a regular transient in Bermuda today, may have been established by the middle Pleistocene. Fairly common remains of Lasiurus, either L. borealis or L. seminolus, were found in 5 cave deposits. In 1 finely stratified sequence, this bat does not appear until the onset of the last glacial period, suggesting that a resident population may have become established at that time. A strong taphonomic bias, indicated by the preponderance of large wing bones, probably of females, may be the result of hawk predation.

Frederick V. Grady and Storrs L. Olson "FOSSIL BATS FROM QUATERNARY DEPOSITS ON BERMUDA (CHIROPTERA: VESPERTILIONIDAE)," Journal of Mammalogy 87(1), 148-152, (1 February 2006). https://doi.org/10.1644/05-MAMM-A-179R1.1
Accepted: 1 June 2005; Published: 1 February 2006
KEYWORDS
Bat
Bermuda
Chiroptera
fossil
Holocene
Lasiurus
paleontology
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