Scientists have discovered sucker-footed bats traveled to other habitats other than their own.
According to information in the Public Library of Science's One science journal, the bats have also existed 36 million more years than scientists originally thought. Scientists came to the discovery after examining fossilized jawbones and teeth of the species in the Sahara desert in Africa.
"We've assumed for a long time that they were an ancient lineage based on DNA sequence studies that have placed them close to very old groups in the bat family tree," Nancy Simmons, co-author and curator at the American Museum of Natural History's Mammalogy Department said in a statement in a press release.
The bats used to be classified as Phasmatonycteris phiomensis and P. butleri, and roamed 30 million to 37 Million years in the past the press release reported.
The environment was mostly tropical with other animals including mammals like elephants. The species are now known as Myzopoda aurita and M. schiemanni don't hang on ceilings of caves, or branches.The bats rather rest in the traveler's palm a plant classified as part of the bird-of-paradise's family of plant species.
The bats pads, in the shape of cups on their wrists and ankles allow them to grasp the leaves. A soaked substance keeps them up rather than sucked in air or suction as originally thought. The find is similar to a tree frog's survival tactics when on leaves the press release reported.
"The fossils came from a fascinating place out in the Egyptian desert," Gregg Gunnell, director of the Duke University Lemur Center's Division of Fossil Primates said in a statement.
"The habitat was probably fairly forested, and there was likely a proto-Nile River, a big river that led into the ancient Tethys Ocean," Gunnell said in a statement. "Now, we can unambiguously link them through Africa,"
