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
Waterhouse's leaf-nosed bat happen in that last trimester. Like many bats, this species uses echolocation as a means to locate their prey. In particular, "Macrotus waterhousii" uses a low intensity, broadband-like call to aide in their search for food. The maximum frequency of a call is 73.65 kHz with a minimum of 46.19 kHz, creating a bandwidth of 27.46 kHz. The call ranges from about 1 second to 3 seconds. In addition, to echolocation, "M. waterhousii" uses the sound made by the prey itself to locate it. This type of foraging behavior leads to a preference for a cluttered habitat. As "M. waterhousii"