Where did bats come from?
Real talk: for decades, scientists have been totally ghosted by the truth of where bats actually started. Was it Africa? Asia? North America? The debate has been wild, but a massive global project called Bat1K just dropped some major intel in Nature that finally clears things up.
An international team of 137 researchers from 64 countries teamed up to look at 103 bat genomes and 44 different fossils. By combining this epic amount of data, they’ve mapped out the evolutionary family tree of the world’s only mammals that can actually fly. The verdict? Bats lowkey started their journey in Europe during the late Paleocene era, roughly 65 to 60 million years ago.
Solving the flight mystery
It’s giving main character energy—bats are the only mammals that have truly mastered powered flight. The study suggests that this ability, along with their iconic echolocation (using sound to navigate in the dark), likely evolved right there in Europe before these creatures branched out and migrated to Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas.
One fossil called Vielasia helped researchers confirm that echolocation appeared super early in their evolution. This means these traits were likely the reason bats were so successful at spreading across the globe.
Why it matters
Beyond just solving a history mystery, this study is a massive W for science. Because bats are strangely resistant to disease and live way longer than other mammals of their size, understanding their DNA could eventually help researchers learn more about human aging and immunity. It’s pretty iconic that a project involving researchers from New Zealand to Madagascar has finally unlocked the secrets of these fascinating creatures. The plot thickens, and we are here for it.
