Bat Wings, Flight, and Healing

Did you know that bats and birds have quite different wings? This is an example of convergent evolution – where different species evolve similar traits completely independently.⁷ Let’s chat about bat wings more specifically. The fossil record suggests that bats evolved from an ancestor that was insectivorous (like most bats in North America), arboreal (lived in trees), and had the ability to glide. At some point around 65 million years ago, bats evolved powered flight from gliding.^8,9 While bats have slower wing beats than birds, their five digits allow them to have increased control and movement of their wings and flight in comparison.²⁰ Moreover, while bird wings are made up of feathers, bat wings are made of skin. This skin is a very thin membrane, stretched between each digit that makes up their ‘arm’. The wing membrane is so thin, in the right light, one can see the blood vessels within the wing. Although this membrane appears to be bare skin, it is covered in very small, fine hairs.¹¹ This thin membrane creates additional flexibility in bat wings and manoeuverability in flight. Finally, while bird wings have few joints, bat wings have more than two dozen joints, further increasing the flexibility and effectiveness of their flight.¹²