Exceptional Longevity in Bats: ‘Bat Signal’ in the sky!!

More than 1,400 species of bats inhabit all continents except Antarctica. Bats are nocturnal, live in large colonies, have diverse feeding habits, and are the only mammals capable of powered flight. (Mexican free-tailed bats are the fastest mammals on earth!) Bat resistance to some viruses is well known. They can asymptomatically harbor several viruses deadly to humans. However, for us, the most fantastic feature of bats is their longevity. Generally, larger species tend to be longer-lived than smaller ones. The longevity quotient (LQ) compares lifespans, correcting for body mass differences between species. Across the bat order, 65 species of bats live 3.5 times longer than an average non-bat mammal! Little brown bats, Brandt’s bat, mouse-eared bats, and Indian flying foxes have maximum lifespans of 30–40 years! Exceptional longevity also translates to considerable resistance to cancers. Therefore, this exceptional longevity found in several bat species is our ‘bat signal’ to investigate the mechanisms of longevity and cancer resistance in bats.