Old World Fruit Bats (Pteropodidae, Chiroptera) from the Pleistocene of Vietnam

Abstract

Isolated teeth of a lesser short-nosed fruit bat Cynopterus brachyotis (Müller, 1838), a fulvous fruit bat Rousettus leschenaultii (Desmarest, 1820), and a dawn bat Eonycteris spelaea (Dobson, 1871) are described from the Middle Pleistocene Tham Hai cave locality in northern Vietnam (Lang Son Province). These are the first fossil findings of the Old World fruit bats in Vietnam. The Middle Pleistocene association of Pteropodidae from the Tham Hai locality may largely reflect the composition of species that roosted in local caves.

Keywords: Cynopterus brachyotis; Eonycteris spelaea; Rousettus leschenaultii; Chiroptera; Lang Son; Middle Pleistocene; Old World fruit bats; Pteropodidae; Vietnam.