Meet the first authors: Magdalena Schindler and Christian Feregrino
In our “meet the first author” interview series, we take a look behind the scenes of science.
Magdalena Schindler and Christian Feregrino are the first authors of a recent publication in Nature Ecology & Evolution. In our interview they delve into the fascinating world of bats and their unique evolutionary adaption. We spoke with them about what the only mammal capable of self-powered flight can teach us about evolution, how teamwork can lead to friendship, and the potential of basic research.
Christian and Magdalena, can you briefly summarize your recent findings?
Magdalena: Animals come in an incredible variety of shapes, but how these forms arise during development is still a fundamental question. In our study, we compared bat and mouse limb development on a cellular level to understand how bats evolved wings from hands, specifically the wing membrane connecting the fingers. Surprisingly, we found that this tissue is not made from a novel limb cell type—rather, an existing developmental program normally used in the forearm of both species is repurposed to drive its development. This program is activated in a new location, the bat hand, to form the wing membrane, or chiropatagium. With this our findings show that evolution can work by reusing by re-using already existing components in a different position in order to drive morphological innovation.
One could argue that bats are not the most common model organism. What fascinated you about this topic and inspired you to start working on it?
Magdalena: Bats are truly fascinating creatures - for their exceptional longevity, strong immune system, metabolism, and the sheer diversity of their group, with over 1,400 different species. On top of this, the ability to fly makes them the only mammals to conquer the air which is one of the reasons for this great evolutionary success. Understanding the molecular prerequisites behind this remarkable adaptation was what very much fascinated me about the project, both a scientifically and personally.
Christian: Indeed, bats are not a common model organism and are incredibly difficult to work with. However, the unique adaptation of their arms and hands into fully fledged wings is also an opportunity to understand limb development in general. Moreover, in this way we get an opportunity to examine how evolution works to generate novelty.
Bats are the only mammals capable of self powered flight. What kind of lessons can we learn from them about evolution
Magdalena: Bats offer a fascinating view into what evolution can achieve. Evolving from a single common ancestor, they’ve diversified into over 1,400 species with remarkable differences in size, diet, and sensory adaptations like echolocation versus eyesight. Yet they all share one key trait: wings. This tells us that powered flight evolved just once in their lineage—and was so advantageous that it enabled their incredible diversification. What’s truly surprising is that this dramatic innovation, the “hand-wing,” wasn’t built newly from scratch. Instead, it arose by subtly tweaking existing developmental programs. That’s a powerful evolutionary lesson: major innovations don’t always require novel components—sometimes, it’s all about reusing existing tools in new ways.
As shared first authors, I assume you worked closely together on this project. Could you describe your collaboration? Who did what?
Christian: This project was a true team effort. Magdalena led the experimental side, collecting samples, performing wet lab work, and generating data. My role was computational. I analyzed the single-cell data and performed most of the statistical analysis. We also worked in a large, interdisciplinary team of scientists from around the world. It was my first time working on a paper with more than 20 authors, which was sometimes challenging but a valuable learning experience. In the end, it was a journey. Magdalena and I became not only a great team but also very good friends.
What are the biggest lessons you learned from this project, both professionally and personally?
Magdalena: This project truly felt like a marathon and I learned a lot along the way. Professionally, one major lesson was realizing that nature is far more complex than we think. I also learned the great value of collaboration. Having thoughtful discussions, asking questions, and supporting each other brings perspectives and solutions you’d never reach alone. Personally, I grew a lot throughout our work. Going through that full rollercoaster, the ups and downs, excitements and frustrations, made me more resilient and appreciative of the process. In the end, it was, as Christian said, both a scientific and personal journey of growth.
What did you learn from each other?
Christian: Magdalena taught me a great deal about managing. She was amazing at it. She always knew who to contact for anything we needed. She was also quick to solve problems and knew how to connect people to get things done.
Magdalena: As someone coming from a purely lab-based background, I learned a great deal from working with Christian as a computational scientist. Most importantly, he introduced me to a completely new way of thinking - how to approach complex datasets, what kinds of questions you can ask, and what is actually possible to extract from the data. It really broadened my scientific horizon and I am very thankful for that.
What potential do you see in your research, and what impact could it have?
Christian: The impact of basic research, like the one we're presenting here, is not always straightforward and it's not always very easy to predict at the beginning what the use of this knowledge will be in the future. But understanding how different species develop the same anatomical structures in different ways already tells us something about how development works in general. Moreover, if we understand all the ways there are to form the same anatomical structure, then it's easier for us in the future to understand what happens when these processes go wrong in humans.
