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Flying fox
Samoan fruit bat (Pteropus samoensis), a species of flying fox, in the National Park of American Samoa on the island of Tutuila.
List of bats
List of bats, Bats (order Chiroptera) are the only mammals capable of flight. This capability, coupled with the ability to navigate at night by using a system of acoustic orientation (echolocation), has made the bats a highly diverse and populous order. More than 1,200 species are currently recognized, and many are enormously abundant. This is a list of selected bat species ordered alphabetically by taxonomic group. (See also mammal; mammalogy.)
suborder Yangochiroptera
- American leaf-nosed bats (family Phyllostomidae)
- fringe-lipped bat (Trachops cirrhosus)
- Jamaican fruit bat (Artibeus jamaicensis)
- vampire bats (genus Desmodus)
- bulldog bats (family Noctilionidae)
- family Cistugidae
- disk-winged bats (family Thyropteridae)
- free-tailed bats (family Molossidae)
- mastiff bat (genus Molossus)
- family Miniopteridae
- family Mormoopidae
- family Mystacinidae
- New Zealand short-tailed bat (genus Mystacina)
- family Myzopodidae
- family Natalidae
- sheath-tailed bats (family Emballonuridae)
- ghost bats (genus Diclidurus)
- slit-faced bats (family Nycteridae)
- smoky bats (family Furipteridae)
- vesper bats (family Vespertilionidae)
- barbastelle (genus Barbastella)
- brown bats (genera Myotis and Eptesicus)
- serotine (genus Eptesicus)
- long-eared bat (genera Plecotus and Nyctophilus)
- noctule (genus Nyctalus)
- pipistrelle (genus Pipistrellus)
suborder Yinpterochiroptera
- family Craseonycteridae
- false vampire bats (family Megadermatidae)
- Australian false vampire bat (Macroderma gigas)
- horseshoe bats (family Rhinolophidae)
- Old World fruit bats (family Pteropodidae)
- flying fox (genus Pteropus)
- Old World leaf-nosed bats (family Hipposideridae)
- family Rhinopomatidae
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Melissa Petruzzello.
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