A 56-million-year bat mystery may finally have an answer, and it points to Europe
A new study published in Nature suggests that the ancestors of modern bats originated in Europe rather than Africa or Asia. By analyzing genomes and fossils, researchers also concluded that echolocation likely evolved alongside powered flight.
Why it matters
This research resolves a long-standing evolutionary mystery regarding the origins and development of one of the world's most diverse mammal groups.
For an animal that spends much of its life upside down and in the dark, the bat has left scientists with a surprisingly long list of unanswered questions.Where did the first bats appear? How did they acquire powered flight? Did echolocation come before or after modern bats emerged? And why has it been so difficult to work out which bat families are actually close relatives?A new study published in the journal Nature offers some of the clearest answers yet. By combining chromosome-level genomes from 103 bat species with fossils and detailed anatomical data, researchers have reconstructed a new version of the bat family tree.
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