Bat evolution?

Evolving the ability to fly required a complex change in anatomy of the animals that became bats. Most researchers believe that bats and primates evolved from arboreal insect eaters, and that bats went through a gliding stage. The wings of bats can be thought of as two sections, the membranes supported by the arms and the membrane supported by the fingers provides the thrust and maneuverability. We can speculate that the membrane in the arms evolved first, and this would have been sufficient to glide from tree to tree with. For arboreal animals gliding uses less energy and is safer than climbing down the tree, crossing the ground between trees, and climbing back up another tree. Types of lizards, marsupials, and squirrels have all evolved gliding membranes. Bats would have preyed on insects, and animals that could control their direction would have had a selective advantage so the hand wings that define the Chiropterans would have evolved rapidly. Flight probably evolved before sophisticated echolocation, but it is clear that the latter was evolving early on in the history of bats and that this ability facilitated the diversification of bats into the hundreds of niches that they occupy today.