Necromantis
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Necromantis Temporal range: 44–36 Ma Middle to Late Eocene |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Chiroptera |
| Family: | incertae sedis |
| Genus: | †Necromantis |
| Type species | |
| †Necromantis adhicaster Weithofer, 1887 |
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| Species | |
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Necromantis is an extinct genus of bat from the Eocene of France and Tunisia. Its fossils are found in the Quercy Phosphorites Formation and the Djebel Chambi, specimens of Necromantis are notable for their large size and specialization towards a predatory lifestyle.
The type species, N. adhicaster, was first described by A. Weithofer in 1887 on the basis of fragmentary fossils from the Eocene deposits of the Quercy Phosphorites Formation. Weithofer did not designate a type specimen, simply describing a lower jaw.
This material was later described in more detail by Pierre Revilliod in 1920, offering the holotype the number QW627. He described additional material, and classified it within five species: N. adhicaster, N. gerzei, N. marandati, N. planifrons and N. grandis.
More recently, E. Maitre has described the fossils in more detail.N. grandis and N. planifrons have been considered indistinguishable from N. adhicaster, but N. gerzei and N. marandati may be distinct enough to retain their respective statuses as distinct species.
Several indeterminate bat fossils in France may belong to Necromantis. Currently, only jaws and skulls are known, with a single humerus known as a postcranial remain.
More recently, Necromantis fragmentatum has been found in the Late Eocene deposits of Djebel Chambi, Tunisia. This north african species is known from several isolated teeth.
Necromantis adhicaster has a skull length of about 32 mm and an estimated weight of 47 g, making it one of the largest bats in the Quercy Formation. Due to the lack of postcranial remains aside from a humerus, its exact wingspan is unclear. The other two species are smaller in size, and possess several differences in regards to the trigon and cingulum.
As noted by most researchers, Necromantis is unique among extinct and extant bats due to the sheer robustness of its jaws and skull. Its jaws are rather short and broad, bearing proportionally large teeth. The mandible is deep and thick and bears deep fossae; combined with the presence of a wide zygoma and a high-positioned condyle, it suggests that Necromantis had large, well developed masseters. The teeth themselves are strongly convergent with those of carnivoran mammals, bearing carnassial-like M1 and M2. The sagittal crest was tall, though less so than some other carnivorous bats like Vampyrum spectrum or Macroderma gigas
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