Greater Sac-winged Bat

Open encyclopedia reference

The greater sac-winged bat (Saccopteryx bilineata) is a bat of the family Emballonuridae native to Central and South America. They are common bats seen in the rainforest, as they often roost on the outside of large trees. They are insectivores and use echolocation calls through the mouth to track their prey, which includes flies, beetles, butterflies and moths. The long nose and upper lip are highly mobile and can shift upward to enlarge the mouth opening. The term "sac-winged" refers to small pouches on the wings. These sacs are used by males to attract females and to mark their harem territory. During daily grooming, males will fill these sacs with drops of urine and glandular secretions. During displays for females, the male will hover in front of the female and fan her vigorously to expose her to the scent of the mixture in the wing sacs. Males will also shake the contents of the sac towards bats outside of the male's harem territory to warn off intruders. Microbial fermentation in the sac may produce identifiable scent signals.

Wikipedia contributors, Greater sac-winged bat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:43:17.632821+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Saccopteryx bilineata (Temminck, 1838)

Name authority

(Temminck, 1838)

Common name

Greater Sac-winged Bat

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Chiroptera

Family

Emballonuridae

Genus

Saccopteryx

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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderChiroptera Blumenbach, 1779
12. suborderYangochiroptera Koopman, 1984
13. superfamilyEmballonuroidea Gervais, 1855
14. familyEmballonuridae Gervais, 1855
15. subfamilyEmballonurinae Gervais, 1855
16. tribeDiclidurini Gray, 1866
17. genusSaccopteryx Illiger, 1811
18. speciesSaccopteryx bilineata (Temminck, 1838)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Saccopteryx. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 47 records assigned to Emballonuridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=631723 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:4TX8S. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.