Bats originated in Europe 65 million years ago

A comprehensive genomic study of 103 bat genomes by the Bat1K consortium of 137 researchers across 64 countries reveals bats originated in Europe during the Late Paleocene period, about 65-60 million years ago. From there, descendants spread to Africa, Americas, Asia, and Australia, accounting for one-fifth of all living mammals today.

After decades of research and conflicting findings, we finally have a robust phylogenetic tree that we can now use to properly understand how and where bats' unique traits evolved.