Animal aging is characterized by the deterioration of essential physiological and cellular functions, a process known as senescence. Senescence occurs naturally throughout an organism’s lifespan, tissue-specific degeneration or malignancy are exacerbated by damage factors and cause senescence-associated pathologies. These pathologies include sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), which occurs from the death of cochlear hair cells (HCs), and cancer, characterized by uncontrolled cell growth and tumorigenesis. Intriguingly, senescence-associated causes of HC death are similar to those which contribute to cancer, including accumulation of ROS, breakdown of DNA repair strategies, and imbalance in mitochondrial metabolism. Resistance to both SNHL and cancer have evolved in a handful of mammalian lineages, including echolocating bats (Chiroptera: Yangochiroptera and Rhinolophoidea). Bats are the only mammals capable of powered flight and most species have evolved an energy-intensive acoustic sensory system known as echolocation. Because of this unique combination of flight, ultrasonic sound emission, and constant auditory activity, bats experience cellular stress challenges unique among mammals. Despite this, some bat species exhibit exceptional longevity for their small body size and appear to resist both hearing loss and cancer well into old age. For my doctoral dissertation, I employed a convergent evolution framework to investigate adaptations for resisting hearing loss and cancer in bats. Chapter 1 reveals convergent genomic adaptations relevant to mitochondrial homeostasis, HC survival, and DNA damage response among echolocating bats and toothed whales. In Chapter 2, I found evidence of convergent cochlear gene expression relevant to cell cycle regulation, antioxidant activity, and cochlear HC regeneration among two distantly related bat clades with the same rare echolocation phenotype. In Chapter 3, I discovered convergent genomic adaptations involved in DNA repair and alternative lengthening of telomeres among the longest-lived bat species and the cancer-resistant naked mole rat. Overall, my dissertation expands on a rapidly growing body of research supporting bats as a powerful new model for the evolution of anti-senescence phenotypes. The continued study of bat adaptations has the potential to identify novel therapeutic targets for treating age-associated diseases in humans.