European Free-tailed Bat

Open encyclopedia reference

The European free-tailed bat (Tadarida teniotis, sometimes given as Tadarida insignis) is a species of free-tailed bat found in the Old World. Other common names include the bulldog bat and the mastiff bat because of the presence of wrinkling on the snout. This bat is found in the Mediterranean region of Europe and in scattered locations across Asia at altitudes from sea level to 3100 m. The range of distribution is from the Canary Islands and Madeira through the whole Mediterranean area, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and the Middle East. In the north to southern France, southern Germany, Switzerland, Croatia and Bulgaria. It was reported from Korea in 1931, but has not been sighted on the Korean Peninsula since then. Populations in Japan, Taiwan and Korea are now considered to be a separate species Tadarida insignis.

Wikipedia contributors, European 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 2026-10-05T10:44:23.895601+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Tadarida teniotis (Rafinesque, 1814)

Name authority

(Rafinesque, 1814)

Common name

European 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.

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. superfamilyVespertilionoidea Gray, 1821
14. familyMolossidae Gervais, 1856
15. subfamilyMolossinae Gervais, 1856
16. genusTadarida Rafinesque, 1814
17. speciesTadarida teniotis (Rafinesque, 1814)

Close classified relatives

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

Browse 93 records assigned to Molossidae.

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=632261 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:54GH4. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.