NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Brazilian Free-tailed Bat
Tadarida brasiliensis (I. Geoffroy, 1824)
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.
Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadaria braziliensis) photo credit: USFWS/Ann Froschauer
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters · Public domain · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Mexican free-tailed bat or Brazilian free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) is a medium-sized bat native to North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean, so named because its tail can be almost half its total length and is not attached to its uropatagium. It has been claimed to have the fastest horizontal speed of any animal, reaching level flight speed of up to 99 mph (160 km/h). It also flies the highest among bats, at altitudes around 3,300 m (10,800 ft).
It is regarded as one of the most abundant mammals in North America. Its proclivity towards roosting in huge numbers at relatively few locations makes it vulnerable to habitat destruction in spite of its abundance. For instance, up to 1.5 million bats reside under just one bridge in Austin. The Texas Legislature recognized the Mexican free-tailed bat as the "Official Flying Mammal" of the State of Texas in 1995.
Wikipedia contributors, Mexican 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 2026-10-05T11:01:38.685774+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Tadarida brasiliensis (I. Geoffroy, 1824)
- Name authority
- (I. Geoffroy, 1824)
- Common name
- Brazilian Free-tailed Bat
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Chiroptera
- Family
- Molossidae
- Genus
- Tadarida
- 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
- genusTadarida Rafinesque, 1814
- speciesTadarida brasiliensis (I. Geoffroy, 1824)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Tadarida. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Egyptian Free-tailed BatTadarida aegyptiaca (E. Geoffroy, 1818) | MolossidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| La Touche's Free-tailed BatTadarida latouchei Thomas, 1920 | MolossidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Big-eared Free-tailed BatTadarida lobata (Thomas, 1891) | MolossidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| African Giant Free-tailed BatTadarida ventralis (Heuglin, 1861) | MolossidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Madagascan Large Free-tailed BatTadarida fulminans (Thomas, 1903) | MolossidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| East Asian Free-tailed BatTadarida insignis (Blyth, 1862) | MolossidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| European Free-tailed BatTadarida teniotis (Rafinesque, 1814) | MolossidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Middle America
North America
South America
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=180088 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:54GGQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.