A new scientific study found that bats first appeared in Europe about 65 million years ago. This was around one million years after a huge asteroid hit Earth, which caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. The study shows bats later spread to Africa and then to almost every part of the world.

Scientists found this by studying the DNA of 103 bat species and looking at 44 bat fossils. DNA is the material in living things that carries genetic information. This helped them build a new bat family tree and understand where bats came from. The researchers say bats developed two important skills early in their history: flying and echolocation. Echolocation means making high sounds and listening to the echoes to find things in the dark.

Because they could fly and hunt at night, bats were very successful animals. Today there are over 1,500 different types of bats living almost everywhere except Antarctica. Scientists hope to learn more by finding even older bat fossils in the future.