What led to the adaptive radiation of these animals?. Earth & Marine Sciences

ollowing the K/T mass extinction event, mammals underwent an adaptive radiation, and gave rise to all modern animal orders (including the bats: Chiroptera). Bat radiation in the Eocene (early Cenozoic ~55 – 34 mya) coincides with an increase in plant diversity and the peak of insect diversity. Insects provided an enormous food source and bats exploited a new niche: there were almost no other insect predators who were nocturnal and capable of flight. The diversity of insects as a food source, combined with the evolution of echolocation as a novel feature led to the adaptive radiation of the bat families.