Study Traces Bats to Europe 65 Million Years Ago Using 103 Genomes

3 articles · Updated · Gizmodo · Sep 23

A Nature study placed the first bats in Europe about 65 million years ago, narrowing a long-running debate over where the only true flying mammals originated.
The finding came from the largest combined bat analysis yet—103 living species across all 21 families, 44 fossils, and 26 reconstructed ancestral chromosomes assembled by 134 researchers from 64 countries.
The data also suggest echolocation was already present in the earliest known bat branch, indicating bats emerged soon after the asteroid strike 66 million years ago.
Researchers say the Bat1K genome database should speed work on bat longevity, immunity and anatomy, even as funding constraints threaten the effort to sequence all roughly 1,500 living species.

Sources

Gizmodo1h ago

Research Pinpoints Bat Origin to Europe 65 Million Years Ago

The New York Times3h ago

New Study: Bats Emerged in Europe 65 Million Years Ago with Early Echolocation

Livescience.com1h ago

Earth's first bats didn't come from where we thought, landmark genetic study reveals | Live Science

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Could the discovery that bats originated in ancient Europe completely rewrite our understanding of early mammalian evolution?

Will unlocking the genetic secrets of bat immunity lead to groundbreaking cures for human cancers and deadly viruses?

How do creatures holding the genetic blueprint for extreme longevity also harbor the world's most terrifying viruses?

From Europe to the World: Genomic and Fossil Evidence Reveals Bats’ 65-Million-Year Evolutionary Journey

Overview

A groundbreaking 2026 study by the Bat1K consortium combined the largest-ever set of bat genomes with fossil evidence to reveal that bats—and powered flight in mammals—originated in Europe around 65 million years ago, right after the dinosaurs disappeared. This discovery overturned previous theories about bat origins and showed that both flight and echolocation evolved together, allowing bats to rapidly fill the night sky and diversify into over 1,500 species. By reconstructing the ancestral bat genome, scientists also uncovered genetic secrets behind bats’ exceptional longevity and disease resistance, offering new directions for medical research and conservation efforts.

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