THE STORY BEHIND THE SATIRE · Europe / Global research consortium · Sep 30, 2026

Largest bat genome-and-fossil study traces mammalian flight to ancient Europe

What happened

A study combining 103 bat genomes, including representatives of all 21 recognized living bat families, with morphological data from living species and 44 pre-Quaternary fossils found that bats—and therefore mammalian powered flight—most likely originated in Europe in the late Paleocene. ScienceDaily published its University College Dublin summary on September 30; the peer-reviewed Nature paper was published September 23.

Why it matters

The result revises earlier hypotheses that placed bat origins in Africa, Asia or North America. The analysis also places a fossil from the oldest bat branch in a position suggesting laryngeal echolocation predates the diversification of modern bats. The authors describe a most-likely reconstruction from combined genomic and fossil models, not a camera-ready record of the first bat taking off.

The Blappos angle

Verified evidence ends above. The Blappos interpretation: Europe hosted the original night flight roughly 65 million years before anyone charged for a checked bag. The magnet uses invented bats, sonar rings, landscape and fossil silhouettes—not a copied scientific figure, institutional mark or precise paleogeographic map.

Read the September 30 research summary ↗

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