The African giant free-tailed bat (''Tadarida ventralis''), or African free-tailed bat is a species of bat in the family Molossidae. It is found in Democratic Republic of the Congo,

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly South Africa. Its natural habitats are dry savanna and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described as a new species in 1861 by German ornithologist Theodor von Heuglin. Von Heuglin placed it in the now-defunct genus ''Nyctinomus'' and subgenus ''Dysopes'', with a scientific name of ''Nyctinomus (Dysopes) ventralis''. Von Heuglin wrote that it has a wide ventral stripe, likely inspiring its species name "''ventralis''."

Description

Its total body length ranges from . Its forearm is long; its tail is long; its ears are long. Its fur is umber or fulvous-brown in color, with the ventral fur paler than the dorsal side. The ventral side has a distinct white stripe across the middle.

Range and status

Its range includes several countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, such as The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It has been called "the rarest of the African molossids" and the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

currently assesses it as

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1829563 Tadarida Mammals described in 1861 Bats of Africa Taxa named by Theodor von Heuglin Taxonomy articles created by Polbot