Daily News Analysis ‘How Bats Evolved Wings: Scientists Find the Secret’ : 8 October

Key Points:

• Bats are the only mammals that can fly. Their wings formed from the same five-fingered limbs found in other mammals.
• Earlier, scientists thought bats kept the skin between their fingers by stopping cell death, but the study shows cell death still happens.
• Researchers found special fibroblast cells in bats’ wings that help form the thin skin (called chiropatagium) used for flying.
  • Fibroblast cells are connective tissue cells that help make and repair skin.
• Two genes, MEIS2 and TBX3, stay active in bats and help these cells build wings.
• When these genes were added to mouse embryos, the mice grew webbed fingers, like early bat wings.

Why It Matters:

•  This study shows how small genetic changes can lead to big evolutionary steps like flight, and may also help understand human conditions such as fused fingers

Why in News?

•  A new study in Nature Ecology & Evolution has found how bats evolved wings by reusing old genes instead of developing new ones.