Myzopoda

{{Short description|Genus of bats}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Eocene to Recent

| image =

| status =

| parent_authority = Thomas, 1904

| taxon = Myzopoda

| authority = Milne-Edwards & A. Grandidier, 1878

| type_species = Myzopoda aurita

| type_species_authority = Milne-Edwards and Grandidier, 1878

| synonyms =

}}

File:Noctilionoidea phylogeny PLoS ONE 2014-02-04.png inferred from nuclear DNA sequence data, showing the basal position of Myzopodidae. Locations with only fossil members are indicated by red stars.]]

Myzopoda, which has two described species, is the only genus in the bat family Myzopodidae. Myzopodidae is unique as the only family of bats currently endemic to Madagascar. However, fossil discoveries indicate that the family has an ancient lineage in Africa, extending from the Pleistocene as far back as the late Eocene.{{Cite journal | last1 = Gunnell | first1 = G. F. | last2 = Simmons | first2 = N. B. | last3 = Seiffert | first3 = E. R. | date = 2014-02-04 | title = New Myzopodidae (Chiroptera) from the Late Paleogene of Egypt: Emended Family Diagnosis and Biogeographic Origins of Noctilionoidea | journal = PLoS ONE | volume = 9 | issue = 2 | pages = e86712 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0086712 | pmid=24504061 | pmc=3913578| bibcode = 2014PLoSO...986712G | doi-access = free }}{{cite web

| last = Dunham | first = W.

| title = Madagascar's tiny 'sucker-foots' give old bat new meaning

| publisher = Reuters | date = 2014-02-05

| url = http://in.reuters.com/article/us-science-bats-idINBREA131QN20140204

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160306155144/http://in.reuters.com/article/us-science-bats-idINBREA131QN20140204

| url-status = dead

| archive-date = March 6, 2016

| access-date = 2014-02-05}} Based on nuclear DNA sequence data, Myzopodidae appears to be basal in the Gondwanan superfamily Noctilionoidea, most of whose members are neotropical. The origin and initial diversification of Noctilionoidea may have occurred in Africa prior to their dispersal to Australia and South America, probably via Antarctica. On the basis of fossil and molecular clock evidence, myzopodids are estimated to have split off from the rest of Noctilionoidea about 50 (46 to 57) million years ago.{{Cite journal | last1 = Teeling | first1 = E. C. | last2 = Springer | first2 = M. | last3 = Madsen | first3 = O. | last4 = Bates | first4 = P. | last5 = O'Brien | first5 = S. | last6 = Murphy | first6 = W. | title = A Molecular Phylogeny for Bats Illuminates Biogeography and the Fossil Record | doi = 10.1126/science.1105113 | journal = Science | volume = 307 | issue = 5709 | pages = 580–584 | date = 2005-01-28| pmid = 15681385| bibcode = 2005Sci...307..580T | s2cid = 25912333 }}