Molossus (bat)

Molossus
Molossus nigricans skeleton at the Smithsonian.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Molossidae
Genus: Molossus
É. Geoffroy, 1805
Type species
Vespertilio molossus
Pallas, 1766
Species

Molossus is a genus of bats. The genus contains ten species with a New World distribution from Mexico in the north to northern Argentina at its most southerly limit. Four of these species have distributions that include various islands in the West Indies such as Puerto Rico or Trinidad.[1][2]

The genus belongs to a group commonly referred to as free-tailed bats. Its name is from the ancient Molossus breed of shepherd dog.[3]

  1. ^ "Molossus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ The Mammals of the Southern African Sub-region by J. D. Skinner, ISBN 0-521-84418-5, 2006, p. 277, "The name of the [free-tailed bats] family is derived from the Greek molossus, a kind of dog used by Greek shepherds in ancient times."