The fossilised remains of a giant burrowing bat that lived in New Zealand millions of years ago has been found in Central Otago.

A team of international scientists, led by the University of New South Wales (UNSW), made the discovery in ancient sediments near the town of St Bathans on New Zealand's South Island.

An artist's impression of a New Zealand burrowing bat, Mystacina robusta, that became extinct in the 1960s. The new fossil find, Vulcanops jennyworthyae, is an ancient relative of burrowing or short-tailed bats. Credit:Gavin Mouldey/SMC

Burrowing bats were about three times the size of an average bat today, and are peculiar because they did not just fly.

According to scientists, they also scurried about on all fours, over the forest floor, under leaf litter and along tree branches, while foraging for both animal and plant food.