52-million-year-old bat skeletons are the oldest ever—and tell a ‘really weird’ tale

The oldest bat skeletons in the world have been identified as a new species, helping scientists fill in the spotty fossil record of these flying mammals and providing new clues about how they evolved. Both skeletons were recovered from an ancient lakebed in southwestern Wyoming, a site that preserves an entire subtropical lake ecosystem and surrounding forest from about 52 million years ago.
52-million-year-old bat skeletons are the oldest ever—and tell a ‘really weird’ tale