Who Were the Ancestors of Bats? Archaeologists Discover a Fossil in Mongolia That Is Really Scary
As everyone knows, the sky is the domain of birds. From ancient times to the present, humans have always yearned to have wings and be able to fly freely across the heavens. Birds, too, have evolved, and in 2015, archaeologists discovered a fossil of a bird in Gansu, named ‘Gansu Bird,’ which unveiled the mysteries of bird evolution.
The Gansu Bird originated in the Cretaceous period, with a history of about 120 million years. Its body structure features are very similar to those of modern birds. Through fossil analysis, archaeologists found that the Gansu Bird could both fly and live like a duck in the water. This discovery provides a certain theoretical basis for ‘birds originated from the water’.
In fact, there have been many doubts about the origin of birds before. Some viewpoints believe that the ancestors of birds were completely extinct during the fifth mass extinction of the Cretaceous period, and modern birds evolved anew. The discovery of the Gansu Bird fossil, with a size similar to that of a modern pigeon, and its body structure prove that it can lurk underwater, and through bone analysis, it was just learning to fly and was very clumsy.
Now, as for bats, which also fly, as successful mammals, they don’t belong to birds. The Gansu Bird is not their ancestor. Then, who is the ancestor of bats? In 2006, archaeologists discovered a fossil of a mammal in Ningcheng, Mongolia. This animal’s birth date was about 1.5 million years earlier than the Gansu Bird, and it already possessed all the characteristics of middle-aged gliding mammals. Paleontologists named this animal ‘Ancient Glider,’ and believed it was likely the ancestor of bats.
After research, the Ancient Glider lived on Earth 125 million years ago. Although it was still the age of dinosaurs at the time, the Ancient Glider survived cleverly by virtue of its flexible body and excellent gliding ability, and successfully survived the fifth mass extinction, and cultivated a habit of living in the sky.
Through fossil analysis, paleontologists found that when the Gansu Bird was still trying to learn how to fly in the sky, the Ancient Glider was able to complete gliding tasks excellently, and had cultivated a habit of living in the sky. Or we can say that the Ancient Glider was the earliest mammal to have the sky.
Previously, the earliest bat fossils unearthed were from 51 million years ago. This discovery of the Ancient Glider fossil has further pushed the birth date of bats to 80 million years ago. Some paleontologists believe that even if the Ancient Glider is not the direct ancestor of bats, its relationship with bats is like that of humans and chimpanzees, the earliest, the earliest, come from the same ancestor.
In fact, in addition to bats, some mammals can also ‘fly’ now, such as the jerboa. This small animal is very cute and its body structure is a combination of that of bats and squirrels. Its gliding speed is very fast, but because it has not evolved lift organs, it is strictly speaking, not a flying mammal.
