Synemporion keana is an extinct species of bat which lived in what is now Hawaii from at least 320,000 years ago to around 2,100 years ago. It is the only species in the genus Synemporion.[1][2]
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| Genus: | Synemporion Ziegler et al., 2016
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| Species: | S. keana
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| Synemporion keana Ziegler et al., 2016
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The first fossils of Synemporion keana were found in a lava tube on Maui in 1981, but remains have since been found on Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, and the island of Hawaii as well.[2] While it is unknown when Synemporion first arrived in the Hawaiian islands, the oldest known fossils are from 320,000–400,000-year-old deposits on Oahu. One bone from another site on Oahu has been dated at 2718–2479 years ago, but some undated remains indicate that S. keana survived until more recently; relatively well-preserved skeletons in a wet, dynamically active cave on Molokai suggest that the bat may have survived until as recently as a few centuries ago.[1]
Like many Hawaiian birds, the extinction of Synemporion keana may have been caused by humans, either directly or indirectly. Possible causes of its extinction include destruction of Hawaiian lowland dry forests and introduction of predators such as rats.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Ziegler, Alan C.; Howarth, Francis G.; Simmons, Nancy B. (2016-03-21). "A Second Endemic Land Mammal for the Hawaiian Islands: A New Genus and Species of Fossil Bat (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae)". American Museum Novitates (3854): 1–52. doi:10.1206/3854.1. ISSN 0003-0082.
- ^ a b Discovery of Extinct Bat Doubles Diversity of Native Hawaiian Land Mammals, at the American Museum of Natural History; published March 21, 2016; retrieved June 20, 2016
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