Cheiromeles
Cheiromeles is a genus of bats in the family Molossidae, the free-tailed bats. 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.[1] These bats have mostly hairless bodies and fold their wings into pouches of skin along their bodies when at rest.[2] These are among the largest insectivorous bats, weighing up to 135 grams.[3]
| Cheiromeles | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Cheiromeles torquatus museum specimen | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Chiroptera |
| Family: | Molossidae |
| Genus: | Cheiromeles Horsfield, 1824 |
| Species | |
|
2, see text | |
There are two species in this genus:[1]
- Lesser naked bat Cheiromeles parvidens
- Hairless bat Cheiromeles torquatus
References
- 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.
- 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.
- 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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