UNC Charlotte Professor Co-Authors Landmark Bat Genome Study Revealing 65-Million-Year Origins
Laurel Yohe, Ph.D., an assistant professor of bioinformatics at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, is a co-author of a significant bat genome study published in Nature. This study, the largest combined bat genome and fossil analysis ever conducted, was led by the international Bat1K consortium, involving 137 researchers from 64 countries. The research integrated 103 bat genomes, representing all 21 recognized bat families, with 44 fossil specimens. The Bat1K consortium aims to sequence the genomes of over 1,400 living bat species, and this paper marks substantial progress toward that goal. The findings indicate that bats originated in Europe approximately 65 million years ago before spreading globally, and they also shed light on the evolution of echolocation and powered flight, suggesting these traits co-evolved earlier than previously believed.
