Bats May Have Appeared in Europe 65 Million Years Ago
New findings from the global Bat1K Project show that bats first appeared in Europe and spread across the world from there.
A comprehensive study conducted as part of the Bat1K Project revealed that the earliest ancestors of bats emerged in Europe approximately 65 million years ago and spread from there to Africa and other continents.
Global Genome Research
Carried out with the participation of over a hundred researchers worldwide, the study is based on the comparison of genomic data from living bat species with fossils.
Scope of the Bat1K Project
The research was carried out as part of the global Bat1K Project, which aims to sequence the genomes of all approximately 1,500 living bat species.
The study utilized 103 genomes belonging to 21 bat families and 44 bat fossils obtained from different regions of the world.
Spread from Europe Across Continents
According to the findings, the earliest ancestors of bats spread from Europe to Africa approximately 65 million years ago.
Over time, these creatures also reached other parts of the world such as Asia, North America, and Australia.
Echolocation and Flight Ability
The research identified findings indicating that echolocation ability, as well as the capacity for flight in bats, evolved during the early stages of evolution.
Assessments from the Scientific Community
Professor Liliana Davalos, one of the study's authors, stated that the new approach, which jointly models the evolution of fossils and living species, made it possible to discover the origin of bats.