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Messelogae kessleri: another flightless bat ancestor in the LRT

Friday, November 1, 2024 23:46

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Formerly Miacis kessleri (Springhorn 1982),
Messelogale kessleri (Springhorn 2000, Figs 1, 2) this ‘weasel from Messel’ just had its crushed skull reconstructed and then re-scored in the LRT.

Two previously ignored scattered elements are here identified as postfrontals that form a posterior ring around the orbit, as in primates, in a new reconstruction (Fig 2).

The curved clavicles (Fig 1) are extra long, as in bats.

The penultimate pedal phalanges (Fig 1 inset) are longer than the proximal pedal phalanges, as in bats, distinct from other mammals.

Figure 1. Messolgale kessleri, formerly Miacis kessleri. Colors added here. Note the penultimate phalanges of the toes are longer than the proximal phalanges. Among small mammals, only bats share this trai. Note the oversize clavicles, as in bats. ” data-image-caption=”

” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/miacis.kessleri_588-1.jpg?w=236″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/miacis.kessleri_588-1.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-89407″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/miacis.kessleri_588-1.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Messolgale kessleri, formerly Miacis kessleri. Colors added here. Note the penultimate phalanges of the toes are longer than the proximal phalanges. Among small mammals, only bats share this trai. Note the oversize clavicles, as in bats.” width=”584″ height=”744″ />

Here
in the Large Reptile Tree (LRT, 2324 taxa) the new reconstruction nests Messelogale at the base of Chiroptera = bats, along with Microcebus (Fig 2), traditionally the smallest primate.

Since bats nest within Primates in the LRT, bats are flying primates.
We looked at Microcebus earlier here, here and here.

The traditional view on the origin of bats
was reported in Smithsonian Magazine 2020 online, when author Riley Black wrote, “Why bats are one of evolution’s greatest puzzles.”

The LRT recovered extant Microcebus as a bat ancestor here in 2022.

Figure 2. DGS tracing of Messelogale skull (above) compared to another basal bat in the LRT, Microcebus, and an undescribed basal bat, known here as the Green River bat. ” data-image-caption=”

Figure 2. DGS tracing of Messelogale skull (above) compared to another basal bat in the LRT, Microcebus, and an undescribed basal bat, known here as the Green River bat.

” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/messelogale_skull_compared588.gif?w=172″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/messelogale_skull_compared588.gif?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-89395″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/messelogale_skull_compared588.gif” alt=”Figure 2. DGS tracing of Messelogale skull (above) compared to another basal bat in the LRT, Microcebus, and an undescribed basal bat, known here as the Green River bat. ” width=”584″ height=”1020″ />

Figure 2. DGS tracing of Messelogale skull (above) compared to another basal bat in the LRT, Microcebus, and an undescribed basal bat, known here as the Green River bat. Currently available data does not permit a tracing of the teeth in Messelogale.

Springhorn 2000 wrote,
“The higher taxonomic status of miacids in relation to the system of Carnivora is discussed.Messelogale kessleri shows basicranial characters, which indicate a classification within the Caniformia. On the other hand the loss of M3 suggests a relationship to the Feliformia.”

Basal Carnivora are sisters to basal Primates in the LRT, and basal Chiroptera nest within basal Primates in the LRT. So they are all close to one another.

Solé 2014 wrote,
“It is presently difficult to relate Messelogale kessleri (Messel, middle Eocene, MP11) to other European carnivoraforms because the species is represented only by juvenile specimens (Springhorn 2000).”

This juvenile assessment seems to be based on the expected number of erupted vs unerupted molars. I am unable to determine tooth number or shape in this specimen.

Figure 3. Gustafsonia cognitus, formerly Miacis cognitus, now nests alongside Nandinia and Mesocyon in the LRT. ” data-image-caption=”

Figure 3. Gustafsonia cognitus, formerly Miacis cognitus, now nests alongside Nandinia and Mesocyon in the LRT.

” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/nandinia_skull588.jpg?w=179″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/nandinia_skull588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-89408″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/nandinia_skull588.jpg” alt=”Figure 3. Gustafsonia cognitus, formerly Miacis cognitus, now nests alongside Nandinia and Mesocyon in the LRT.” width=”584″ height=”981″ />

Figure 3. Gustafsonia cognitus, formerly Miacis cognitus, now nests alongside Nandinia and Mesocyon in the LRT.

The other former ‘Miacis‘ tested in the LRT
was renamed ‘Gustafsonia‘ (Fig 3), a damaged skull from the Oligocene nesting now with Oligocene Mesocyon and extant Nandinia (Fig 3) at e base of the Carnivora.

Figure 1. The fruit bat, Pteropus, compared to the small lemur, Microcebus. ” data-image-caption=”

Figure 1. The fruit bat, Pteropus, compared to the small lemur, Microcebus.

” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/pteropus.microcebus.face588.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/pteropus.microcebus.face588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-67335″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/pteropus.microcebus.face588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. The fruit bat, Pteropus, compared to the small lemur, Microcebus.” width=”584″ height=”257″ />

Figure 4. The fruit bat, Pteropus, compared to the small lemur, Microcebus. Messelogale would have looked similar.

This appears to be a novel hypothesis of interrelationships.
If not please provide a citation so I can promote it here.

Reference
Springhorn R 1982. Neue Raubtiere (Mammalia: Creodonta et Carnivora) aus dem Lutetium der Grube Messel (Deutschland). Palaeontographica, (A)179 (4-6): 105–141, Stuttgart.
Springhorn R 2000. Messelogale, eine neue Raubtiergattung aus dem Mitteleozän von Messel (Deutschland). Paläont. Z. 74, 425–439 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02988110

wiki/Messelogale

Publicity
Smithsonian Magazine online 2020.

The smallest primate, Microcebus is now basal to bats

Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2024/11/02/messelogae-kessleri-another-flightless-bat-ancestor-in-the-lrt/

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