Onychonycteris known species, hence "Onychonycteris" meaning "clawed bat". The specific epithet is a tribute to the fossil prospector and preparator who discovered it, Bonnie Finney. "Onychonycteris finneyi" was the strongest evidence so far in the debate on whether bats developed echolocation before or after they evolved the ability to fly. "O. finneyi" had well-developed wings, and could clearly fly, but lacked the enlarged cochlea of all extant echolocating bats, closer resembling the old world fruit bats which do not echolocate. This indicates that early bats could fly before they could echolocate. However, an independent evaluation of the "Onychonycteris" reference fossil in
Ghost-faced bat of food. They are often found feeding over standing water. Because these bats tend to roost in larger colonies they are susceptible to parasites and rabies which have been known to wipe out entire colonies. The ghost-faced bat survives on a diet of small insects. They use echolocation to identify their food at night and are able to catch insects in the darkness with little or no additional light. Very little is known about their reproduction and development. These bats only seem to carry one embryo at a time and are thought to give birth in the spring between March