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Fossil bat fly found

Adam Khor · 2019-07-23 02:23:31

Bat flies evolved along with bats, and live as their parasites; their bodies are flattened like those of a flea to crawl in the bat's fur. These insects only leave their hosts to mate, and this is what this particular one was probably doing when it became stuck in tree sap in what would one day become the Dominican…

23-07-2019 03:23AM

#1

Adam Khor

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Posts: 3885

Bat flies evolved along with bats, and live as their parasites; their bodies are flattened like those of a flea to crawl in the bat's fur. These insects only leave their hosts to mate, and this is what this particular one was probably doing when it became stuck in tree sap in what would one day become the Dominican Republic (wonder if InGen ever got their hands on one of these?)
This discovery suggests that bat flies have been around for at least 20 million years; it is the very first bat fly fossil ever found.

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