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“Paintings are the first things to erode away due to biocorrosion,” he said.

Biocorrosion is an important yet underappreciated aspect of understanding why prehistoric cave paintings are so often found in caves that have been sealed off from the outside world or never hosted bats, said Laurent Bruxelles, a geoarchaeologist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research who collaborates with Dr. Barriquand’s team but wasn’t involved in the recent study.

This potent combination eats away at the limestone walls and ceiling, a process called biocorrosion.

Dr. McFarlane, who helped pioneer the bat biocorrosion work and is a paleobiologist at Claremont McKenna College in California, said the study was a useful application of his earlier research on archaeology.