We FINALLY Understand Why Bats Live So Long

"We finally understand why bats live so long" - and then a list of things we DON'T fully understand about the perplexing biology of bats. Still fascinating, but the answer you promised is... still speculative.

The immune system may not be directly responsible for the longevity. He mentioned in the last 5 minutes that bats have better DNA validation. Just having that may lead to the longer life. DNA validation is the running theory on why elephants and whales live so long and lack cancer.

Now it makes sense why Batman sounds like he has a serious permanent throat infection, and never dies.

I work under someone who has a doctorate in mammology/ecology and he specializes in bats, so I feel the need to correct some information on this video if you are interested in learning about bats. Firstly, bats are indeed as susceptible to disease as other animals. Currently they are more susceptible than other species and many of them are at risk of becoming extinct. White-Nose syndrome is a disease affecting all bat species caused by a fungus which was first seen in 2016. It has a mortality rate of over 90% and kills bats mostly by disrupting their hibernation, leading to them using vital fat reserves and dying of starvation. In severe cases it can cause them to be unable to breathe due to covering the rostrum or cause wing damage as the fungus actually penetrates tissues. Bats are not immortal, they are in severe risk if a cure isn't found. Secondly, the postulate that he is referring to with body size and lifespan is definitely something that we see a lot happen in biology, but as with anything else there are major exceptions to these patterns. The naked mole rat is the most extreme example I can think of because they can live up to 30 years, when compared to their most related extant cousins, all rodents which have lifespans of years in some species. Bats are very, very distant from rodents, they are closer to whales, all carnivores, giraffe, horse, etc than to us which all have lifespans similar to bats. We are closer to rodents than rodents are to bats. Phylogeny can be a better way to understand lifespans in animals because in most cases closely related species tend to have longer (K selected) lifespans or shorter (R selected) lifespans. Like anything though there are always exceptions that we don't understand.

I know of two age records for bats, one (39) from Alberta, Canada, and the other (41) from Russia. It would be interesting to know if microbats from warm climates, that don't spend half their lives hibernating, are also of comparable length. Btw, the Alberta record was from a living wild bat that had been banded as an adult, so could be even older.

Makes sense for an animal that lives in large colonies to evolve greater resistance to social contact diseases.

I’ve always loved bats, and this cements my desire to help them.

There is another way of looking at this. Activity promotes circulation. Circulation aides the immune system. It isn't just the high body temperature but the circulating of the blood that aides the immune system. If I feel a bit down, like I may be coming down with something, I will go for a run, bike ride or hike. When I get back I feel 100% again. It is just movement promoting blood circulations which makes it easier for the immune system to do it's job. The only illness I've had in the past 35 years is disentery which I got from drinking hand squeezed lemonaide in Peru. In my defense, the beer there tastes like crap and I need a break from it. I should have gotten bottled soda. The point is that attempting to list a single thing as the sole reason for the bat's longevity and resistance to illness is a ignorant, at best.

My late father remembered seeing syphilis being treated with malaria at the psychiatric hospital where he worked in Sussex, maybe late 1950's or early 1960's

Bats are like mr. Burns. They have so many diseases that one ends up fighting another, thus leaving the host alone for living long. 😂😂😂

You missed the biology of birds. A rat who lives about 3 years has the same body weight and high metabolic rate as a pigeon. But the lifespan of pigeons is 35 years. And they tend to never look old. Instead of carnosine made in the liver from two amino acids, (beta-alanyl-L-histidine) as an endogenous anti-glycation agent, birds manufacture anserine, which is 7 times more powerful an anti-glycation agent as carnosine.

Imagine what would happen if we didn't have bats to do their job. Whatever niche they're into that requires them to be able to carry massive loads of illness, it's probably something we'd like to be kept in check by the bats.

Bombing bats help to spread rabies rather than eliminate the threat to us. Before the bats were concentrated in one area, after the bomb those that survive fly off to new locations . Another reason why bats have special immune systems is that they range far and wide and come into contact with many more animal species. Since many live in large concentrations they need to be versatile in how they handle diseases.

It's Morbin' time!! Loved this video! I did find it funny where you mention a study where they give bats ebola then immediately show a clip of a bat biting a gloved finger!

Theres actually a two stage immune response in humans when you think about. 1. Body temperature. 2. Indleness. In constrast, on serveral occasions when I start to feel sick and probably against better advice, I will go for a run. Specifically to get the blood flowing through my system as efficiently as possible, rather than stagnating. So perhaps two very different methodologies are at play. One hyper accelerates blood chemistry/temperature, while trying to keep disease transfer minimised, through low flow rates. One hyper accelerates both blood chemistry/temperature and efficiency/flowrate to kill disease as rapidly as possible, ignoring the transfer rate. Stasis vs hyperflow. Be interesting to see how fast the blood chemistry is in bats, if there is little to no serious inflammation. Perhaps this is done the opposite way around too. At least in relative terms. Preffering a high flow filtration system, might explain why there is few if any zombie cells in bats. Yet serious accumulation in humans. Perhaps the solution then, is to hyper accelerate/filter blood flow, rather than increase immune response aggressiveness and the resulting inflamation. Thus unfit people die early. Heart disease through blockages and/or reduced flow rates, with materials that arent flushed and accumulate in the system instead. Basically, we need to flush the turds from the blood, instead of being left with something that looks like a fatberg in a sewer.

Subscribed!! I love it. My interest in longevity biology naturally lead me into an interest in bats long before covid outbreak. What delight to see a basic summary of all I have read over many years into one short video. Thanks for making these facts about these remarkable creatures and the interplay between disease and the immune system widely available and more accessible to the public. You now have another regular viewer!

This seems like the beginning of a new school vampire flick where we try to extend our lives...but end up turning ourselves into vampires 😒😂

Fever theory is kind of correct. The nightly fevers from flying hold the virus count at a low level. Thus giving the bat time to produce antibodies to said virus.

Personally the most attractive feature in a bat as a mammal, is it ability to fly - anyone working on that?!? ;) Thanks as always for your great content.

Super-interesting coverage! Thanks!🙏