Brevipalatus
fossil species of mammal
Brevipalatus mcculloughi is a species of bat that existed in the early Miocene. It was discovered at a fossil deposit of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area.
Taxonomy
The description of Brevipalatus mcculloughi was published in 2005 by senior researchers at the Riversleigh fossil sites Suzanne Hand and Mike Archer, separated from other bats of the hipposiderid family by a new genus. A holotype was selected from a large amount of fossilised material in a deposition at the Bitesantennary Site, part of a skull with some intact molars. All the specimens included in the first description were obtained at the type locality.
The name Brevipalatus is derived from Latin to describe the shortness of the palate. A specific epithet was selected by the authors to honour Ron McCullough, then mayor of Mount Isa in Queensland, Australia, who is credited with giving extensive support to the research and recognition of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area.
Description
A chiropteran allied to the hipposiderid family, known as old world leaf-nosed bats, which use echolocation to hunt at night. The short length of palate distinguished the new taxon from others of the family. The dentition of Brevipalatus mcculloughi, along with other structures of the ear and rostrum found in modern species of leaf-nosed bats, indicate they also consumed nocturnal insects like moths that were caught in flight.
“Brevipalatus” enters the record as fossil species of mammal. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Brevipalatus, fossil and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Brevipalatus” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Brevipalatus, fossil and species provides the most credible route into that argument.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 25, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q64205262. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2005.
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This entry incorporates text from “Brevipalatus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.