Bats may have first evolved in Europe 65 million years ago

A huge genomic and fossil study suggests bats first evolved in Europe around 65 to 60 million years ago before spreading across the globe. The findings also indicate that flight and echolocation emerged near the beginning of bat evolution, potentially helping explain how bats became one of the most successful mammal groups on Earth. Bats may have first evolved in Europe 65 million years ago.

Bats may have first evolved in Europe 65 million years ago Science News from research organizations Bats may have first evolved in Europe 65 million years ago A massive new study traces bats back to ancient Europe and suggests flight and echolocation helped launch their extraordinary evolutionary success. For decades, researchers have debated where bats first appeared. Africa, Asia, and North America have all been proposed as possible birthplaces.

Now, an international team of 137 researchers from 64 countries has combined genomic data from every living bat family with evidence from ancient fossils to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the world’s only mammals capable of true powered flight. The work was carried out through the Bat1K consortium, a global effort dedicated to sequencing the genomes of all living bat species and co-founded by UCD Professor Emma Teeling. A New Bat Family Tree The study, published in Nature, examined 103 bat genomes, including 42 newly generated chromosome-level assemblies, covering all 21 recognized bat families.

Researchers also incorporated evidence from 44 fossil bats.