Bats originate and flourish in Europe, research shows
Summary and headline written by AI from the source article. How we work
An international team of 137 researchers from 64 countries determined that bats likely originated in Europe between 60 and 65 million years ago.
Scientists had previously proposed Africa, Asia, and North America as potential origins for bats. The team, working as part of the Bat1K initiative, combined genomic data from all living bat families with fossil records to reconstruct bat evolutionary history.
The researchers analyzed the genomes of 103 bat species, including 42 new, complete genome assemblies, representing all 21 recognized bat families, and integrated this data with fossil evidence from 44 bat species. Their analysis revealed that bats first evolved in Europe during the late Paleocene epoch and then spread into Africa. Different bat groups later expanded independently into the Americas, Asia, and Australia, leading to the diverse bat populations seen today. Professor Liliana M.
Dávalos of Stony Brook University explained that their methodology allows them to identify the oldest fossil bat group while considering genomic data, pinpointing when and where bats first appeared. By reconstructing the genome of the ancient ancestor of all living bats using computational methods, scientists can now study the genetic changes behind bats’ unique adaptations, including flight, echolocation, longevity, and disease resistance.
