More fossilised mammalian magic from the Miocene! New fossils from New Zealand, which by the way are incredibly rare, demonstrates that bats were on the islands 16 million years ago. This pushes back the oldest evidence for bats on New Zealand by 15.98 million years (did I mention that mammal fossils on New Zealand are exceptionally rare?). This bat of the genus Mystacina was larger than its modern relatives, weighing in at a colossal 40 grams. This large size (for a bat) may have meant this fossil species spent more time on the ground hunting large insects and fruit.