Cheiromeles
Cheiromeles torquatus museum specimen
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Molossidae
Genus: Cheiromeles
Horsfield, 1824
Type species
Cheiromeles torquata
Horsfield, 1824
Species

2, see text

Cheiromeles is a genus of bats in the family Molossidae, the free-tailed bats.[1] The genus was erected and described by Thomas Horsfield, who developed the name from the Greek word cheir ("hand"), a reference to the hand-like hindfoot, which has a toe that flexes like an opposable thumb.[2] These bats have mostly hairless bodies and fold their wings into pouches of skin along their bodies when at rest.[3] These are among the largest insectivorous bats, weighing up to 135 grams.[4]

There are two species in this genus:[2]

References

  1. ↑ Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. 1 2 Leong, T. M., et al. (2009). The naked bulldog bat, Cheiromeles torquatus in Singapore—past and present records, with highlights on its unique morphology (Microchiroptera: Molossidae). Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine Nature in Singapore 2, 215-30.
  3. ↑ Reichard, J. D., et al. (2010). Thermal windows on Brazilian free-tailed bats facilitate thermoregulation during prolonged flight. Integrative and Comparative Biology 50(3) 358-70.
  4. ↑ Norberg, U. M. L. & Norberg, R. Å. (2012). Scaling of wingbeat frequency with body mass in bats and limits to maximum bat size. The Journal of Experimental Biology 215(5), 711-22.


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