Bats originated in Europe 65 million years ago, largest genome study reveals

Bengaluru: From the largest ever study of bat genomes and fossils, scientists have deduced that the world’s only flying mammals — which account for one fifth of all living mammals — likely originated in Europe and spread to every continent except Antarctica.

Scientists, in a paper in the journal Nature, pegged the bat’s evolution at 65 million years ago, in the late Palaeocene, “coinciding with increased global temperature and environmental change.”

This discovery countered previously held hypotheses that bats originated in Africa or North America. The study, that involved 137 scientists from 64 countries working together as part of the “Bat1K” consortium, concluded that the animals spread from Europe first to Africa and then to Asia, the Americas and to Australia.

The researchers said their extraordinarily long lives and resistance to disease can be used to design bat-inspired approaches to improve human health.

Some modern bats can migrate thousands of kilometres and live in very diverse climates on every continent, except Antarctica.