NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Large-eared Free-tailed Bat
Otomops martiensseni (Matschie, 1897)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Large-eared Giant Mastiff Bat (Otomops martiensseni) in South Africa
Benjamin Fredlund · CC BY 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The large-eared free-tailed bat (Otomops martiensseni) is a species of bat in the family Molossidae native to Africa.
It is found in Angola, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, and possibly Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, dry savanna, arable land, and plantations.
Wikipedia contributors, Large-eared free-tailed bat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:45:09.714498+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Otomops martiensseni (Matschie, 1897)
- Name authority
- (Matschie, 1897)
- Common name
- Large-eared Free-tailed Bat
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Chiroptera
- Family
- Molossidae
- Genus
- Otomops
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderChiroptera Blumenbach, 1779
- suborderYangochiroptera Koopman, 1984
- superfamilyVespertilionoidea Gray, 1821
- familyMolossidae Gervais, 1856
- subfamilyMolossinae Gervais, 1856
- genusOtomops Thomas, 1913
- speciesOtomops martiensseni (Matschie, 1897)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Otomops. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Big-eared Mastiff BatOtomops papuensis Lawrence, 1948 | MolossidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Harrison's Giant Mastiff BatOtomops harrisoni Ralph, Richards, Taylor, Napier & Lamb, 2015 | MolossidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Johnstone's Giant Mastiff BatOtomops johnstonei Kitchener, How & Maryanto, 1992 | MolossidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Madagascar Giant Mastiff BatOtomops madagascariensis Dorst, 1953 | MolossidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mantled Giant Mastiff BatOtomops secundus Hayman, 1952 | MolossidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Wroughton's Free-tailed BatOtomops wroughtoni (Thomas, 1913) | MolossidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Nyctinomus martiensseni Matschie, 1897 Matschie, 1897 | synonym |
| Otomops icarus Chubb, 1917 Chubb, 1917 | synonym |
| Otomops martiensseni icarus Chubb, 1917 Chubb, 1917 | synonym |
| Otomops martiensseni martiensseni (Matschie, 1897) (Matschie, 1897) | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=632250 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4B7JY. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.