Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Bats are one of the most extraordinary groups of mammals alive today. These fantastic flying animals are the second most diverse order of living mammals, beaten only by rodents. Despite their astonishing modern diversity, the origin of bats is still poorly understood. The early evolution of this spectacular group of animals is one of the most intriguing mysteries in palaeontology, and the study of bat evolution and their relationships has resulted in some pretty intense debate among scientists.
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Sources:
journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0283505
https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/flight/converge.html
science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1108871
science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1105113
scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Early+Eocene+bats+%28Mammalia%2C+Chiroptera%29+and+other+vertebrates+in+freshwater+limestones+of+the+Willwood+Formation%2C+Clark%E2%80%99s+Fork+Basin%2C+Wyoming+Gingerich+1987
nature.com/articles/nature06549
nature.com/articles/nature09219
sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982214014250
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC122208
cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(14)01425-0?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982214014250%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/207/25/4361/15115/Echolocation-signal-structure-in-the
link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02989856
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4611652
senckenberg.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/morlo_et_al.pdf
science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1230835
doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.09.014
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3038382
scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/07/13/we-flightless-primates
pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.111551998
nature.com/articles/srep27726
link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10914-024-09705-8
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0185
cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(23)01289-7?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982223012897%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03223-y
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mam.12211
0:00 - Intro
1:34 - The Mystery of Bat Origins
8:41 - The Bats of the Messel Pit
11:13 - How Bats are Classified
16:12 - The Most Up-to-Date Study of Early Bat Evolution
20:32 - A Summary of Bat Evolution
22:32 - Future Bat Evolution?
23:01 - Outro
Bats are one of the most extraordinary groups of mammals alive today. These fantastic flying animals are the second most diverse order of living mammals, beaten only by rodents. Despite their astonishing modern diversity, the origin of bats is still poorly understood. The early evolution of this spectacular group of animals is one of the most intriguing mysteries in palaeontology, and the study of bat evolution and their relationships has resulted in some pretty intense debate among scientists.
▶ Subscribe to 7 Days of Science: youtube.com/@7DaysofScience
▶ Become a Channel Member or support us on Patreon for behind-the-scenes, bloopers, extra adventures and more!
Become a Member: youtube.com/channel/UCDSzwZqgtJEnUzacq3ddoOQ/join
▶ Join our Patreon: patreon.com/7daysofscience
▶ Join our Discord server: discord.gg/jTsGYtRBHZ
▶ Follow us on Instagram: bit.ly/1PIEagv
▶ Follow us on TikTok: tiktok.com/@bengthomas
Music by Geographer
Subscribe to explore the wonderful life around you!
Social Media:
►Instagram: bit.ly/1PIEagv
►TikTok: tiktok.com/@bengthomas
►Twitter: twitter.com/BenGThomas42
►Subreddit: reddit.com/r/BenGThomas
Sources:
journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0283505
https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/flight/converge.html
science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1108871
science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1105113
scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Early+Eocene+bats+%28Mammalia%2C+Chiroptera%29+and+other+vertebrates+in+freshwater+limestones+of+the+Willwood+Formation%2C+Clark%E2%80%99s+Fork+Basin%2C+Wyoming+Gingerich+1987
nature.com/articles/nature06549
nature.com/articles/nature09219
sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982214014250
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC122208
cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(14)01425-0?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982214014250%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/207/25/4361/15115/Echolocation-signal-structure-in-the
link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02989856
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4611652
senckenberg.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/morlo_et_al.pdf
science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1230835
doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.09.014
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3038382
scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/07/13/we-flightless-primates
pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.111551998
nature.com/articles/srep27726
link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10914-024-09705-8
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0185
cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(23)01289-7?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982223012897%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03223-y
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mam.12211
0:00 - Intro
1:34 - The Mystery of Bat Origins
8:41 - The Bats of the Messel Pit
11:13 - How Bats are Classified
16:12 - The Most Up-to-Date Study of Early Bat Evolution
20:32 - A Summary of Bat Evolution
22:32 - Future Bat Evolution?
23:01 - Outro
