The secret to the extraordinary longevity of bats

The researchers assessed changes in DNA methylation and found that hibernation slows biological aging

Scientists at the University of Maryland recently conducted a study that explains why small mammals like bats live so long

Gerald Wilkinson, the study's senior author and a professor of biology at the University of Maryland, said: "Hibernation allows bats, and other animals, to stay in northern or far southern regions where there is no food for the winter

The researchers analyzed small tissue samples from the wings of 20 large brown bats, collected during the winter of hibernation and the summer of activity

These samples were then compared to samples obtained from the same animal during active and hibernating periods to identify changes in DNA methylation, a biological process involved in gene regulation

"Clearly, sites that reduce methylation in winter appear to have a positive effect," Wilkinson said.

Some of these genes were identified as "longevity genes" by Wilkinson and his colleagues in a previous study

Previous research has also created the first epigenetic clock for bats that can reliably predict the age of any wild bat

Wilkinson said: "We still don't have a good understanding of why some bats live for long periods of time and others don't

He is planning a follow-up study comparing epigenetic aging in Canada's great brown bats, which hibernate, and Florida's conspecific, the great brown bat, which hibernates and which does not

Big brown bats experience slower epigenetic ageing during hibernation” by Isabel R.