Cheiromeles

Cheiromeles
	Cheiromeles torquatus museum specimen
Scientific 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

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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]

Lesser naked bat Cheiromeles parvidens
Hairless bat Cheiromeles torquatus

References

^ 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.
^ ^a ^b 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.^{[dead link]} 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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[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.

[leong-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.^{[dead link]} 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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