Molossidae Gervais, 1856

Velazco, Paúl M., Voss, Robert S., Fleck, David W. & Simmons, Nancy B., 2021, Mammalian Diversity And Matses Ethnomammalogy In Amazonian Peru Part 4: Bats, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2021 (451), pp. 1-201 : 139

Family Molossidae Gervais, 1856

The nearly cosmopolitan family Molossidae (commonly known as free-tailed bats) is the fourth most diverse family of bats with more than 100 species worldwide, most of which occur in tropical regions (Simmons, 2005; Gregorin and Cirranello, 2016; Simmons and Cirranello, 2020). Molossids are characterized morphologically by a reduced tragus, a (usually) large antitragus, a pinna that lacks a basal lobe, a skull that lacks postorbital processes, a humerus with a trochiter much larger than the trochin, and a seventh cervical vertebra that is fused with the first thoracic vertebra (Miller, 1907). All Amazonian molossids belong to the subfamily Molossinae , which is characterized morphologically by long, narrow wings; tough, leathery wing and tail membranes; a thick tail that extends well beyond the posterior margin of the uropatagium; short, robust legs; short, broad feet provided with long sensory hairs; a reduced tragus; and a large antitragus (Eger, 2008). Of all the species expected to occur in the Yavarí- Ucayali interfluve, molossids are the least well represented in our voucher material due to the challenge of capturing these high-flying bats. Whereas 17 molossid species have geographic ranges that overlap our region, only seven are documented by locally collected voucher material, although two others ( Nyctinomops cf. macrotis and Promops nasutus ) were provisionally identified using acoustic methods.