Fossil Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) 



from the Late Pleistocene and Holocene Vero Fauna, 



Indian River County, Florida 



Gary S. Morgan 



Florida State Museum, 



University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611 



ABSTRACT. — Six species of bats are reported from the late Pleisto- 

 cene and Holocene Vero fossil vertebrate locality on the east coast of 

 peninsular Florida: Eptesicus fuscus, Lasiurus intermedins, L. cf. 

 seminolus, Nycticeius humeralis, Tadarida brasiliensis, and Eumops 

 glaucinus. This is the first known fossil occurrence of Lasiurus semino- 

 lus, and the first record of Nycticeius humeralis from the Pleistocene 

 of Florida. Previous reports of Myotis austroriparius from Vero are 

 shown to be in error, as they were based on a misidentified humerus. 

 The bats from Vero represent the most diverse fossil chiropteran fauna 

 yet known from Florida and one of the richest in the North American 

 Quaternary. This site is unique among Florida fossil vertebrate locali- 

 ties as it samples species of bats that roost primarily in trees, rather 

 than cave-dwelling forms. The six species present at Vero constitute 

 the entire native chiropteran fauna of present-day South Florida, indi- 

 cating that the bat fauna of this region has remained relatively stable 

 over the past 10,000 years. 



INTRODUCTION 



Recent curation of the abundant microvertebrate fossils collected 

 by Robert D. Weigel in 1956 and 1957, during his re-excavation of the 

 classic Vero Site on the Atlantic coast of Florida (Weigel 1962), 

 revealed the presence of a relatively large sample of bat remains. Based 

 on only four elements, Weigel (1962) recognized three genera of bats 

 from Vero — Myotis, Eptesicus, and Lasiurus. He did not assign any of 

 his material to species, and his identification of Myotis was incorrect. 

 Detailed study of the bat fossils from Vero, especially the postcranial 

 elements, and a re-examination of the small sample identified by Wei- 

 gel, allows for more precise identification of most of the material. In the 

 present study, six species of bats are recognized from the Vero deposits 

 based on 37 elements representing 16 individuals. Comparison with data 

 in Webb (1974:14, Table 2.1) indicates that the six species of bats at 

 Vero make it the most diverse fossil bat fauna yet known from Florida. 



DESCRIPTION OF LOCALITY 



The Vero fauna is one of the best known late Pleistocene (Rancho- 

 labrean) local faunas in Florida (see Weigel 1962 for a complete list of 



Brimleyana No. 11:97-117, October 1985 97 



