Not a bat.

Chiroptera
K.L. Goodyear
 Important Points
Second largest order → behind rodents
                        LUH! They don’t
like the cold…also
look for the “3
globe image on the
exam”…he may just
use it!
Bats are broken up into Yin and Yang…
because “TREE” says its true!

Credible
name for a
journal!
 Yinpterochiroptera: They have their own
Facebook Group!

I’m one
of them!
Group 1 Characteristics
 Group 1 Characteristics
• Fruit bats and Flying Foxes
• Typically fruit eating and nectar feeding
• Occur through tropical and sub-tropical areas of the old world such as Africa,
South Pacific Islands
• They do NOT echolocate but there is an EXCEPTION! The genus Rousettus can
make a series of low pitched tongue clicks
• Body size varies considerably from very large to very small…wingspans may
reach 2 m in the case of the “flying foxes”
• The Hammer-headed fruit bat (the picture he has on D2L) exhibits a large
degree of sexual dimorphism with the males being twice the size as the
females
• Fruit bats are nocturnal for the most part though some species may be diurnal
• They serve valuable ecological functions such as pollen and seed dispersal
lesser short-nosed fruit bat
lesser dawn bat
harpy fruit bat
greater musky fruit bat
Indian flying fox
variable flying fox
 You can ALSO ID them based on
Geometry….SERIOUSLY!!!
Pteropodids cannot roost with head facing
dorsally at ~90deg
LUH!
They have REALLY
bad posture!

Aprox 90 deg
 Group 2: Rhinopomatidae

• These guys are named for their long tails! The

only living with a tail longer than their
forearm!
• Typically exhibit countershading (dark dorsal
and light ventral pelage)
• Live in N. Africa, India, Sumatra
• Mainly insectivorous
HARDWICKE'S LESSER MOUSE-TAILED BAT
LUH!
 Group 3: Rhinolophidae

WARNING: He seems to like these

• Horseshoe bats
• Found all over the place: Europe, Africa, Asia,
Australia, Japan
• Diverse habitats from deserts to tropical forests
• Generally have large ears without a tragus
• Doppler Shift Echolocation…they are “Hawkers”
 Greater Horseshoe Bat

LUH!
Greater Horseshoe Bat
Big-Eared Horseshoe Bat
Mayaian Horse Shoe Bat
Noticing a common trend
here????
 Group 4: Megadermatidae

“False vampire” bats

Found in tropical and savanna habitats:
Africa/India/South East Asia
Look for the huge “V-shaped” ears and huge
noseleaf
Some eat scorpions
• Megaderma lyra - Greater False Vampire Bat -
Afghanistan to S China, Burma, Thailand,
Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam; south to Sri Lanka and
W Malaysia; Bangladesh.
“V” shaped ears

Big Nose Leaf

• Family MEGADERMATIDAE - false vampire bats
• Lavia frons - Yellow-winged Bat - Senegal and
Gambia to Somalia, south to Namibia, Zambia, and
Malawi; Zanzibar.
• Megaderma spasma - Lesser False Vampire Bat -
Sri Lanka and India through SE Asia (including
Vietnam) to Lesser Sundas, the Philippines and
Molucca Islands, various adjacent islands.
 Craseonycteridae
1 Species: Kitti’s Hog-nosed Bat

One of the
smallest living
mammals
• Family CRASEONYCTERIDAE - hog-nosed bats
• Craseonycteris thonglongyai - Hog-nosed Bat
- Thailand, Burma 
 Yangochiroptera
They do NOT have their own Facebook group…

Most of the bats

 Emballonuridae
LUH!

• Sac wings and sheeth tails

• pheromone production…most prominent in males
• Tail emerges from dorsal surface of uropatagium, so
• uropatagium can be lengthened/shortened by
• retracting/extending legs
• Mexico/Africa/Middle East
• Most recognizable bat in this group…Proboscis bat!
lesser sheath-tailed bat
Emballonura monticola
• Family EMBALLONURIDAE - sac-winged bats
• Sheath-tailed bats: 50 species
Many of these rather small tropical bats have glandular wing-sacs secreting a strong-smelling
red substance; these are more developed in the male and may serve to attract the female.
The tip of the tail is free of skin, so that in flight the tail membrane can be lengthened by
stretching out the hind legs. Gray Sac-winged Bat - Costa Rica to C Sonora and S Baja
California (Mexico); N Colombia.
• Emballonura alecto - Small Asian Sheath-tailed Bat
- Philippines, Borneo, Sulawesi, and Tanimbar
(Indonesia), Moluccas, and adjacent small islands
including Anambas Island.
• Saccopteryx bilineata - Greater Sac-winged Bat -
Jalisco and Veracruz (Mexico) to Bolivia, Guianas,
and E Brazil south to Rio de Janiero; Trinidad and
Tobago.

LUH!
• Taphozous melanopogon - Black-bearded Tomb Bat - Sri Lanka;
India; Burma; Thailand; Laos; Cambodia; Vietnam; S China;
Malay Peninsula and adjacent islands; Borneo; Sumatra, Java,
Lombok, Sumbawa, Moyo, Alor, Timor, and Sulawesi
(Indonesia), Philippines.
 Nycteridae
• Slit-faced bats
• Africa and Madagascar
• Low intensity echolocation
• T-shaped tail
Nycteris thebaica
 Mollossidae
• Mollossus = mastiff =
• Located both old and
new world
• Tail extends past
uropatagium
• Dog-like snout
• Bat names tend to end Not a bat.
in faced or free-tailed
• Family MOLOSSIDAE - free-tailed bats
•  
• Chaerephon plicatusa - Wrinkle-lipped Free-tailed Bat - India and Sri Lanka to S
China, Hong Kong, Cambodia, and Vietnam, southeast through Malyasia to the
Philippines, Borneo and Lesser Sunda Isls; Hainan (China); Cocos Keeling Isl
(Indian Ocean).
• Eumops bonariensis – Dwarf Bonneted Bat -
Veracruz (Mexico) to NW Peru, NW Argentina,
Parguay, Uruguay, and Brazil.
• Molossus rufus - Black Mastiff Bat - Tamaulipas,
Michoacan, and Sinaloa (Mexico) to Peru, N
Argentina, Brazil and Guianas; Trinidad.
• Molossops temminckii - Dwarf Dog-faced Bat -
Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru,
Bolivia, S Brazil, Paraguay, N Argentina, Uruguay.
• Promops nasutus - Brown Mastiff Bat -
Venezuela, Trinidad, Guyana, Surinam, Brazil,
Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, N Argentina.
 Mormoopidae
• Mustached, ghost-faced, naked-baked bats
• Semi tropical habitats
• NO nose leaf
• Lips are enlarged
• Plate-like growth on lower lip
• Family MORMOOPIDAE - mustached bats
•  
• Mormoops megalophylla - Peter’s Ghost-faced Bat - S Texas, S Arizona (USA),
and Baja California (Mexico) south to NW Peru and N Venezuela; Aruba, Curaçao,
and Bonaire (Netherlands Antilles); Trinidad; Margarita Isl (Venezuela).
 Noctilionidae
• Bull-dog/fishing bat
• Rake like feet
• Mexico, Argentina, Caribbean islands
Noctilionidae
 Phyllostomidae
• New world leaf nosed bats
• United States, Central America, South America
• Nose-leaf ornamentation (NOT horseshoe)
• Vampire bats are in this family…he likes these!
• Desmodontidae: Reciprocal altruism
 vampire bat
Desmodus rotundus

Scary bat teeth

Geoffroy's tailless bat
Ectophylla alba (white bat)
greater spear-nosed bat
 Mystacinidae
• New Zealand short-tailed
• Very sharp claws
• Fold up its wings and walk on the ground
 Furipteridae
• Smoky bats
• South America
• Thumb enclosed in wing membrane
• Family FURIPTERIDAE - smoky bats
•  
• Furipterus horrens – Thumbless Bat - Costa Rica south
to Peru, the Guianas, and E Brazil; Trinidad.
 Thyropteridae
• Have suction cups!!!
• AKA disc-wing bats
 Family Vespertilionidae (Vesper bats)

WARNING: According to Dr. Miller these are the

“obvious” ones that we have to know. 
The greatest number of species
Worldwide distribution
HUGE degree of diversity
All seem to have a very long tragus
Many long ears
Few with facial arrangement
pallid bat
big brown bat
painted bat
 hoary bat

LUH!

She is a whore
 Quick ID (Yin)
Large eyes+ fox face
P Pteropodidae
REALLY long tail Mouse-tail
Horseshoe nose leaf Horseshoe bat
“V” shaped ears False Vampire Bat
Next to some object to show size Kitti’s Hog-nosed
 Quick ID (Yang)
• Sacs on wings or tiny tail: Emballonuridae
• Bull dog face: Noctilionide
• Slit down nose: Nycteridae
• Walking on the ground: NZ Short tailed
• Thumbs appear enclosed: Thumbless bat
• Funnel shaped ears: Funnel eared
• Nose leaf: Phyllostomidae
• Long tragus+long ears: Vespertiliandae