Megaderma franconica ZIEGLER , 1993

Rosina, Valentina V. & Rummel, Michael, 2019, The Early Miocene Bats (Chiroptera, Mammalia) From The Karstic Sites Of Erkertshofen And Petersbuch 2 (Southern Germany), Fossil Imprint 75 (3 - 4), pp. 412-437 : 413-414

Megaderma franconica ZIEGLER, 1993

Text-fig. 1

M a t e r i a l. Erkertshofen 1: BSP 1962 XIX 4148, left m2; BSP 1962 XIX 4147, left mnd with m1–3; BSP 1962 XIX 4149, left M1.

Petersbuch 2: BSP 1976 XXII 4141–4148 (8 maxillary fragments with teeth); BSP 1976 XXII 4149–4154, 4156–4158, 4165, BSP 1976 XXII 11072, PCMRCh112 (15 isolated upper teeth); BSP 1976 XXII 4110–4140, BSP 1976 XXII 11069, PCMRCh110 (33 mandibles with teeth); BSP 1976XXII 4155, 4159–4164, PCMRCh111, 113 (13 isolated lower teeth).

M e a s u r e m e n t s. See Tab. 1.

D e s c r i p t i o n a n d c o m p a r i s o n s. Jaw fragments are represented by the maxillary and mandibular bones with cheek teeth and isolated teeth. They bear all the morphological traits typical of M. franconica as described in detail earlier ( Rosina and Rummel 2012: 465–466). The fossil species of Megaderma are quite uniform in their odontology, but often differ in size ( Tab. 2), and, in particular, in the degree of m3 talonid reduction. Both the nominative form M. franconica from Wintershof-West (MN 3, Germany; Ziegler 1993) and M. cf. franconica from Stubersheim 3 (MN 3, Germany; Ziegler 1994) are somewhat larger and have a less reduced m3 talonid than Megaderma from Petersbuch 2 and Erkertshofen 1 ( Tab. 2). The early Miocene M. brailloni SIGÉ, 1968 from Bouzigues (MN 2, France) and M. gaillardi (TROUESSART, 1898) from La Grive 7 (MN 7, France), Beni Mellal (MN 7, Moroco) and Escobosa de Calatanazor (MN 6, Spain) are bigger than Megaderma from Petersbuch 2 and Erkertshofen 1 ( Tab. 2; see also Sigé 1968, 1976). The middle Miocene M. lugdunensis (DEPÉRET, 1892) (MN 6, Steinberg, Goldberg, Germany and Devínská Nová Ves, Slovak Republic, and MN 5, Vieux Collonges, France), is slightly smaller and shows a less reduced m3 talonid than Megaderma studied from Petersbuch 2 and Erkertshofen 1 ( Tab. 2, Textfig. 1b, d1; Rachl 1983: 153, fig. 53). The late Miocene M. jaegeri SIGÉ, 1976 from Beni Mellal (MN 5 or MN 6, Africa; Sigé 1976) is considerably smaller than the fossils from Petersbuch 2 and Erkertshofen 1 ( Tab. 2). The fossil Megaderma from Petersbuch 2 and Erkertshofen 1 ( Text-fig. 1 ) is morphologically almost identical to M. franconica from the early Miocene fauna from Petersbuch 28 and Petersbuch 62 (MN 3/4) of Germany ( Rosina and Rummel 2012). Both the Megaderma franconica from Petersbuch 28 and the Megaderma from Petersbuch 2 and Erkertshofen 1 are only somewhat larger than the nominative form from Wintershof- West ( Tab. 2; see also Rosina and Rummel 2012: tab. S2, Ziegler 1993: 126, tab. 1). The morphological differences between these three taxa are not significant, thus we assign the studied fossil Megaderma from Petersbuch 2 and Erkertshofen 1 to M. franconica .

Figures

Text-fig. 1. Megaderma franconica, Petersbuch 2: a – BPS 1976 XXII 4147, right mxl with P4–M3, ventral view; b – BSP 1976 XXII 4112, left mnd with m2–3, lateral view; c – BSP 1976 XXII 4124, left mnd with p2–m1, (c1) lateral view, (c2) occlusal view; d – BSP 1976 XXII 4110, right mnd with p4–m3, (d1) occlusal view, (d2) lateral view.