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
Egyptian slit-faced bat a few to thousands of other members. Because they can maneuver in crowded habitats, they are able to occupy caves and holes that cannot be accessed by other bat species. While the bats do form a communal roost, individuals do not huddle together to conserve energy and warmth. They occupy two roosts, using the daytime roost to rest, while only spending a few hours in the night roost before going out to forage. They have a long-night foraging period, lasting several hours. The bats use high-frequency and low-intensity echolocation calls to locate prey. The low wing loading and low aspect