Chiroptera is an order of flying placental mammals. Members of this order are called chiropterans, or bats. The order comprises 1363 extant species, which are grouped into 226 genera. The second largest order of mammals after rodents, bats comprise about 20% of all mammal species worldwide. The majority of bats live in South and Central America, Africa, and southern and Southeast Asia, but the order can be found in most of the world outside of Antarctica and the arctic. They live in a variety of habitats, particularly forests and caves but also grasslands, savannas, shrublands, wetlands, deserts, and rocky areas. With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of sustained flight. They range in length from Kitti's hog-nosed bat, at 2 cm (1 in), to the great flying fox, at 37 cm (15 in). Bat wings are relatively proportionate to their size, with the large flying fox having the largest overall wingspan, up to 1.7 m (5.6 ft). Chiroptera is divided into two suborders: Yangochiroptera and Yinpterochiroptera. The suborders are further subdivided into clades and families. Yangochiroptera contains 14 families grouped into three superfamilies: Emballonuroidea, containing the sheath-tailed, sucker-footed, and slit-faced bats; Noctilionoidea, containing the smoky, mustached, short-tailed, bulldog, leaf-nosed, and disk-winged bats; and Vespertilionoidea, consisting of the wing-gland, bent-winged, free-tailed, funnel-eared, and vesper bats. Yinpterochiroptera includes seven families grouped into two superfamilies: Pteropodoidea, consisting of the fruit bats, and Rhinolophoidea, containing the hog-nosed, Old World leaf-nosed, false vampire, horseshoe, trident, and mouse-tailed bats. The exact organization of the species is not fixed, with many recent proposals made based on molecular phylogenetic analysis. Nine species have been recorded as going extinct since 1500 CE.
Conventions The author citation for the species or genus is given after the scientific name; parentheses around the author citation indicate that this was not the original taxonomic placement. Range maps are provided wherever possible; if a range map is not available, a description of the collective range of species in that genera is provided. Ranges are based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species unless otherwise noted. All extinct genera or species listed alongside extant species went extinct after 1500 CE, and are indicated by a dagger symbol "†".
Classification The order Chiroptera consists of 1363 extant species belonging to 226 genera. This does not include hybrid species or extinct prehistoric species. Modern molecular studies indicate that the 226 genera can be grouped into 21 families; these families are divided between two named suborders and are grouped in those suborders into named clades, and some of these families are subdivided into named subfamilies. An additional nine species have been recorded as going extinct since 1500 CE: three in the family Vespertilionidae, and six in the family Pteropodidae.
Fossil genera The following basal fossil bat genera of uncertain taxonomic placement are also known from the Paleogene. A few are known from well-preserved complete skeletons, but the majority are known only from fragmentary cranial and dental elements. In some cases, they are placed in their own extinct families (Palaeochiropterygidae, Archaeonycteridae), but some recent studies suggest that these divisions are paraphyletic.
Chiropterans The following classification is based on the taxonomy described by Mammal Species of the World (2005), with augmentation by generally accepted proposals made since using molecular phylogenetic analysis, as supported by both the IUCN and the American Society of Mammalogists.
Suborder Yangochiroptera
Superfamily Emballonuroidea
Family Emballonuridae
Members of the Emballonuridae family are called emballonurids, and include sheath-tailed bats, sac-winged bats, ghost bats, pouched bats, and tomb bats. They are all insectivorous and eat a variety of insects and spiders, and occasionally fruit. Emballonuridae comprises 55 extant species, divided into 14 genera. These genera are grouped into two subfamilies: Emballonurinae, containing sheath-tailed, sac-winged, ghost, and other bat species, and Taphozoinae, containing pouched and tomb bats.
Family Myzopodidae Members of the Myzopodidae family are called myzopodids, or colloquially sucker-footed bats, and include two extant species in a single genus. They are both insectivorous.
Family Nycteridae
Members of the Nycteridae family are called nycterids, or colloquially slit-faced bats. Nycteridae comprises 16 extant species in a single genus. They are all insectivorous, though the large slit-faced bat also regularly eats fish, frogs, birds, and bats.
Superfamily Noctilionoidea
Family Furipteridae Members of the Furipteridae family are called furipterids, and include two extant species, each in their own genus. They are both insectivorous.
Family Mormoopidae
Members of the Mormoopidae family are called mormoopids, and include ghost-faced bats, naked-backed bats, and mustached bats. Mormoopidae comprises 11 extant species, divided into two genera. They are all insectivorous.
Family Mystacinidae Members of the Mystacinidae family are called mystacinids, or colloquially New Zealand short-tailed bats, and include two extant species in a single genus. They are both omnivorous, eating insects, fruit, carrion, pollen, and nectar.
Family Noctilionidae Members of the Noctilionidae family are called noctilionids, or colloquially bulldog bats, and include two extant species in a single genus. They are both insectivorous, but the greater bulldog bat primarily eats fish.
Family Phyllostomidae
Members of the Phyllostomidae family are called phyllostomids, or colloquially leaf-nosed bats, and include vampire bats, long-tongued bats, big-eared bats, broad-nosed bats, and yellow-shouldered bats. They primarily eat a variety of insects, fruit, nectar, and pollen, though a few will also eat birds, bats, and small mammals, and the three vampire bat species of the subfamily Desmodontinae solely consume blood. Phyllostomidae comprises 203 extant species, divided into 60 genera. These genera are grouped into 11 subfamilies: Carolliinae, Desmodontinae, Glossophaginae, Glyphonycterinae, Lonchophyllinae, Lonchorhininae, Macrotinae, Micronycterinae, Phyllostominae, Rhinophyllinae, and Stenodermatinae.
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