The fossilised remains of a giant burrowing bat have been unearthed near the Central Otago town of St Bathans.
The remains, which are millions of years old, were found by a team of international scientists from the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand. The find was reported in the journal Scientific Reports.
Details about the new fossil bat were released in a statement by Te Papa yesterday, Alan Tennyson from Te Papa was part of the team who made the discovery.
Bones and teeth from the extinct bat were extracted from 16 to 19 million-year-old sediments near St Bathans.
The bat was three times the size of an average bat and weighed in around 40 grams, this makes it the biggest burrowing bat found to date.
Burrowing bats are only found in New Zealand and are so called for the fact that they scurry about the forest floor on all fours to search for food as well as flying.
The new bat has been named Vulcanops jennyworthyae after the Roman god of fire and volcanoes, Vulcan and team member Jenny Worthy who discovered the bat fossils.
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