Bats | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/Bats/RSS feed for BatsenFri, 25 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000Where Did Bats Originate? Huge Genetic Study May Have Settled the Longstanding Debate and Rewritten the Creatures' Evolutionary Treehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/where-did-bats-originate-huge-genetic-study-may-have-settled-the-longstanding-debate-and-rewritten-the-creatures-evolutionary-tree-180989568/The flying mammals likely arose 65 million years ago in Europe, before spreading to Africa and then the rest of the world, according to the new researchFri, 25 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/where-did-bats-originate-huge-genetic-study-may-have-settled-the-longstanding-debate-and-rewritten-the-creatures-evolutionary-tree-180989568/These Small, Stealthy Bats Use High-Frequency Vocalizations to Keep Their Chatter Out of the Range of Predators and Preyhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/these-small-stealthy-bats-use-high-frequency-vocalizations-to-keep-their-chatter-out-of-the-range-of-predators-and-prey-180989550/New research shows that proboscis bats communicate with each other and echolocate at higher frequencies than scientists expected. This could help the animals sneak up to their targets and evade creatures that want to eat themWed, 23 Sep 2026 13:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/these-small-stealthy-bats-use-high-frequency-vocalizations-to-keep-their-chatter-out-of-the-range-of-predators-and-prey-180989550/