New research has rewritten the evolutionary history of bats, providing evidence the winged mammals most likely originated in Europe during the late Palaeocene, some 65-60 million years ago.

Scientists have long struggled to establish where bats first originated, with previous hypotheses proposing Africa, Asia and North America.

By combining genomic data from all living bat families with ancient fossil records, an international team of 137 researchers from 64 countries working as part of the Bat1K consortium, a global initiative dedicated to sequencing the genomes of all living bat species co-founded by UCD’s Professor (opens in a new window)Emma Teeling, have reconstructed the evolutionary history of the world's only mammals capable of true powered flight.

The landmark study published in (opens in a new window)Nature analysed 103 bat genomes, including 42 newly generated chromosome-level assemblies, representing all 21 recognised bat families. This was combined with evidence from 44 fossil bats.

The results provide a clearer picture of where and how this remarkable lineage emerged.

The researchers found that bats most likely first evolved in Europe during the late Palaeocene. And from there, their descendants spread into Africa.

As bats diversified, different groups then expanded independently into the Americas, Asia and Australia, eventually giving rise to the major bat groups found around the world today.

Bats are among the most extraordinary mammals on Earth. They are the only mammals capable of true powered flight. Most bats orient and hunt in complete darkness using sound alone, and they account for one fifth of all living mammals, playing a vital role in maintaining healthy ecosystems across the globe.

Many bat species show remarkable resistance to disease and live exceptionally long lives for their size. Yet despite their unique biology and ecological importance, scientists have struggled for decades to answer some of the most fundamental questions about their evolution.

Contributing to the project as part of the international Bat1K consortium were Assistant Professors (opens in a new window)Graham Hughes and (opens in a new window)Zixia Huang, both from (opens in a new window)UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science.

The new research findings shed light on how bats developed two of their defining characteristics, powered flight and echolocation.

Meanwhile, analysis of the fossil bat Vielasia, which sits on the oldest branch of the bat family tree, indicates that echolocation had already evolved near the beginning of bat evolution.

Read the full study:  (opens in a new window)https://lnkd.in/eavZNR6p