Archaeonycteridae is a family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 of extinct bat

Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...

s. It was originally erected by the Swiss naturalist

Naturalist

Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...

 Pierre Revilliod as Archaeonycterididae to hold the genus Archaeonycteris

Archaeonycteris

Archaeonycteris was a primitive bat genus whose remains were found in Germany, France, England and India.-Species:*Archaeonycteris trigonodon Revilliod, 1917 - Messel Pit , Germany...

. It was formerly classified under the superfamily Icaronycteroidea (disused) by Kurten and Anderson in 1980. In 2007, the spelling was corrected to Archaeonycteridae and it was reclassified to the unranked clade

Clade

A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...

 Microchiropteramorpha by Smith et al.. The family Palaeochiropterygidae

Palaeochiropterygidae

Palaeochirpterygidae is a family of extinct bats. It was originally erected by the Swiss naturalist Pierre Revilliod in 1917 after discoveries of Palaeochiropteryx fossils from the Messel Pit of Germany. Palaeochirpterygidae was merged into Archaeonycteridae by Kurten and Anderson in 1980, but...

 was also merged into Archaeonycteridae by Kurten and Anderson, but modern authorities specializing in bat fossils maintain the distinction between the two.

They existed from the Ypresian

Ypresian

In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age or lowest stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between and , is preceded by the Thanetian age and is followed by the Eocene Lutetian age....

 to the Lutetian

Lutetian

The Lutetian is, in the geologic timescale, a stage or age in the Eocene. It spans the time between and . The Lutetian is preceded by the Ypresian and is followed by the Bartonian. Together with the Bartonian it is sometimes referred to as the Middle Eocene subepoch...

 ages of the Middle Eocene

Eocene

The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...

 epoch

Epoch (geology)

An epoch is a subdivision of the geologic timescale based on rock layering. In order, the higher subdivisions are periods, eras and eons. We are currently living in the Holocene epoch...

 (55.8 to 40.4 million years ago).

Genera

It contains four genera

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

. The following list may be incomplete or inaccurate:Archaeonycteris

Archaeonycteris

Archaeonycteris was a primitive bat genus whose remains were found in Germany, France, England and India.-Species:*Archaeonycteris trigonodon Revilliod, 1917 - Messel Pit , Germany...

Revilliod, 1917Archaeonycteris trigonodon Revilliod, 1917 - Messel Pit

Messel pit

The Messel Pit is a disused quarry near the village of Messel, about southeast of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Bituminous shale was mined there. Because of its abundance of fossils, it has significant geological and scientific importance...

 (Lutetian

Lutetian

The Lutetian is, in the geologic timescale, a stage or age in the Eocene. It spans the time between and . The Lutetian is preceded by the Ypresian and is followed by the Bartonian. Together with the Bartonian it is sometimes referred to as the Middle Eocene subepoch...

), GermanyArchaeonycteris pollex Storch & Habersetzer, 1988 - Messel Pit (Lutetian), GermanyArchaeonycteris brailloni Russell et al., 1973 - Avenay quarry

Avenay-Val-d'Or

Avenay-Val-d'Or is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France.-See also:*Communes of the Marne department...

 (Ypresian

Ypresian

In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age or lowest stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between and , is preceded by the Thanetian age and is followed by the Eocene Lutetian age....

), France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

Archaeonycteris storchi Smith et al., 2007 - Vastan Lignite Mines (Ypresian), India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

Australonycteris Hand, Novacek, Godthelp & Archer, 1994Australonycteris clarkae

Australonycteris clarkae

Australonycteris is a monotypic extinct genus of microchiropteran bat with the single species Australonycteris clarkae. The species is known from fragmentary remains found at the Murgon fossil site, in south-eastern Queensland, dating to the early Eocene, 54.6 million years ago...

Hand, Novacek, Godthelp & Archer, 1994 - Murgon fossil site

Murgon fossil site

The Murgon fossil site is a paleontological site of early Eocene age in south-eastern Queensland, Australia. It lies near the town of Murgon, some 270 km north-west of Brisbane...

 (Ypresian), Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

Matthesia Smith and Storch 1981Matthesia germanica'Matthesia insolita'Protonycteris Smith et al., 2007Protonycteris gunnelli Smith et al., 2007 - Vastan Lignite Mine (Ypresian), India