Natural mutants in mammalian facial morphology: A review of palate clefting in bats
Journal: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
Year: 2025

Bats (order Chiroptera) exhibit great diversity in the size and shape of their palates. One palate characteristic in particular that diverges from other mammals is the presence of a natural and nonpathological cleft palate in roughly half of the ∼1500 species of bats. Despite being typically detrimental when present in other mammals, bats have repeatedly evolved a midline cleft palate in at least 10 lineages and a bilateral cleft palate at least once and, based on observations presented, possibl