Miscellaneous News

Bat Evolution Study

September 29 , 2026 13 hrs 0 min 21 0

A large study of bat genomes and fossils found that bats likely originated in Europe about 65 million years ago, during the late Palaeocene.
The study involved 137 scientists from 64 countries under the Bat1K consortium and analysed 103 bat species from all 21 living bat families.
Scientists concluded that bats spread from Europe to Africa, and then to Asia, the Americas and Australia, but not Antarctica.
Flight and echolocation developed near the beginning of bat evolution, helping bats spread widely across the world.
Bats play important ecological roles such as pollinating plants, controlling insect pests and dispersing seeds.