These findings could offer new insights into potential treatments for metabolic diseases by examining evolutionary adaptations in bats.
To explore how bats diversified their diets, researchers embarked on extensive fieldwork in the jungles of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.A new study has revealed that bats exhibit the highest naturally occurring blood sugar concentrations ever recorded in mammals, indicating that they have evolved unique strategies to not only survive but thrive with this extreme trait.
“Since they have dietary specialization that encompasses all the diet types across mammals, we can, for the first time, study the mechanisms of metabolic evolution in response to diet,” Jasmin Camacho, a postdoctoral research associate at Stowers Institute for Medical Research and co-first author of the study, told“Our study reports blood sugar levels that are the highest we have ever seen in nature—what would be lethal, coma-inducing levels for mammals, but not for bats,” said Camacho.
In addition to their dietary adaptations, bats face significant physical demands from flight, which places immense stress on their bodies. Despite this, bats have evolved to maintain strong immune systems and metabolic health, allowing them to thrive despite the high levels of oxidative stress generated by their metabolism.
“What is even more interesting, is despite their high metabolic rates, many bat species have exceptionally long lifespans for their size. This paradox provides a model to explore the relationship between metabolism, aging, and longevity, challenging conventional views that higher metabolic rates lead to shorter lifespans,” she explains.
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