Mormopterus

Mormopterus
Mormopterus beccarii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Chiroptera
Family:	Molossidae
Genus:	Mormopterus Peters, 1865
Type species
Nyctinomus jugularis Peters, 1865
Subgenera
Mormopterus Micronomus Setirostris Ozimops

The bat genus Mormopterus is one of 17 genera in the family Molossidae (free-tailed bats). The genus now comprises 18 extant species in four subgenera. The subgenus Mormopterus has seven species occurring in geographically disparate locations: three species from the west Indian Ocean region (Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands and possibly South Africa and Ethiopia), one species from western Indonesia (known from a single specimen from Sumatra) that appears to be related to the above three species; and three species from the neotropics (the western side of South America as far south as northern Chile, and Cuba). The subgenus Ozimops occurs in Indonesia (Halmahera, Ambon, Seram and West Papua), Papua New Guinea and Australia, and the two monotypic subgenera Micronomus and Setirostris are Australian endemics. While the species-level taxonomy has become better resolved, the integrity of the genus Mormopterus as it currently stands is less clear. Molecular sequencing data indicates that Mormopterus is paraphyletic. The closest relatives of M. kalinowski are members of Nyctinomops.^[1] Further phylogenetic work is required to resolve the relationships of the species’ groups from the three regional areas, and what their relationships are to other molossid genera.

The 18 species within four subgenera are:

• Subgenus Mormopterus
  • Natal free-tailed bat, Mormopterus acetabulosus
  • Mormopterus francoismoutoui
  • Sumatran mastiff bat, Mormopterus doriae
  • Peters' wrinkle-lipped bat, Mormopterus jugularis
  • Kalinowski's mastiff bat, Mormopterus kalinowskii
  • Little goblin bat, Mormopterus minutus
  • Incan little mastiff bat, Mormopterus phrudus
• Subgenus Micronomus
  • East-coast free-tailed bat, Mormopterus norfolkensis
• Subgenus Setirostris
  • Bristle-faced free-tailed bat, Mormopterus eleryi
• Subgenus Ozimops
  • Southern free-tailed bat, Mormopterus planiceps
  • Beccari's mastiff bat, Mormopterus beccarii
  • Little Papuan mastiff bat, Mormopterus loriae
  • Inland free-tailed bat, Mormopterus petersi
  • Western free-tailed bat, Mormopterus kitcheneri
  • Eastern free-tailed bat, Mormopterus ridei
  • Northern free-tailed bat, Mormopterus lumsdenae
  • Cape York free-tailed bat, Mormopterus halli
  • Mangrove free-tailed bat, Mormopterus cobourgianus

In addition, Peters's flat-headed bat (Platymops setiger) and Roberts's flat-headed bat (Sauromys petrophilus) were once thought to belong to this genus.

References

1. Lamb, J. M.; Ralph, T. M. C.; Naidoo, T.; Taylor, P. J.; Ratrimomanarivo, F.; Stanley, W. T.; Goodman, S. M. (June 2011). "Toward a Molecular Phylogeny for the Molossidae (Chiroptera) of the Afro-Malagasy Region". Acta Chiropterologica. 13 (1): 1–16. doi:10.3161/150811011X578589.