Bats Likely Originated in Europe, Genome and Fossil Study Finds

Bats’ origins have been difficult to trace because living species show only the surviving branches of their family tree. In a study published in Nature on September 23, 2026, the Bat1K consortium brought genomes and fossils into the same reconstruction. Its conclusion: bats most likely arose in Europe around 65 million years ago, before spreading across the world. 31819

How genomes and fossils changed the family tree

The researchers analyzed chromosome-level genomes from 103 bat species, including 42 new assemblies, covering all 21 currently recognized living bat families. That breadth helped them reconstruct relationships among bats alive today. 25 They then integrated genomic evidence with 699 anatomical characters recorded across 65 species, including 44 pre-Quaternary fossils. Adding extinct branches matters because the distribution of living bats alone cannot show every place their ancestors once lived. 18

The team also inferred 26 ancestral bat chromosomes from comparisons of living genomes. These are reconstructed chromosome arrangements—not DNA recovered from ancient fossils. Together, the genomic and fossil analyses favored a European origin in the late Paleocene, rather than the Asian, African or North American origins proposed previously. The result is a best-supported reconstruction, not direct observation of the first bat. 118

What the study suggests about early bats

The revised tree suggests that the common ancestor of living bats already had powered flight and echolocation. Those abilities therefore probably evolved near the dawn of the lineage, although the available study summaries do not establish precisely how either ability first developed. 24

Accounts of the study describe early dispersal from Europe into Africa, followed by expansion into Asia, the Americas and Australia. That route, like the proposed birthplace, is inferred from evolutionary and geographical analyses rather than a complete fossil record of each journey. 918 Likewise, “around 65 million years ago” should not be treated as an exact date or used to pin bat origins to a precise interval after the asteroid impact. 3

Why the genomes matter beyond bat origins

Bat1K aims to sequence the genomes of every living bat species; this family-spanning dataset is a step toward that goal, not its completion. 2541 Researchers could use such reference genomes to investigate genetic changes associated with wings, sensory biology, longevity and responses to infection. They could also inform studies of diversity and species boundaries relevant to conservation. Those are opportunities for further research—not health or conservation outcomes demonstrated by this evolutionary study. 1419

Claims that the study established an exact ancestral echolocation mechanism, that its data were released under particular public-access terms, or that specific funding restrictions will impede Bat1K require evidence beyond the sources available here. The reported origin and early evolution of flight and echolocation are the study’s clearer findings. 1440