Where Did Bats Come From? | Science | Smithsonian Magazine
Large or small, bats suffer a reputation problem. Aside from being associated with vampires, they re often called flying rats and blamed for the spread of zoonotic diseases into humans (including COVID-19, though whether that blame is founded is as of yet unclear.) This fear often overshadows the fascinating fact that bats are the only mammals to have evolved powered flight, and they ve been flapping around for tens of millions of years. Where, then, did these flying oddities come from?
And why do they taste so good?