NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Greater Naked Bat
Cheiromeles torquatus Horsfield, 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.
Open encyclopedia reference
The hairless bat (Cheiromeles torquatus), also called the naked bulldog bat and greater naked bat, is a species of bat in the family Molossidae. The generic name Cheiromeles comes from the Greek words cheir and mélos (Greek for hand and limb) and the species name is derived from the Latin torques (Latin for collar).
This bat is a hawking insectivore, using echolocation to find insects on the wing.
The hairless bat is mostly hairless, but does have short, bristly hairs around its neck, on its front toes, and around the throat sac, along with fine hairs on the head and tail membrane.
Wikipedia contributors, Hairless bat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:08:34.562188+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Cheiromeles torquatus Horsfield, 1824
- Name authority
- Horsfield, 1824
- Common name
- Greater Naked Bat
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Chiroptera
- Family
- Molossidae
- Genus
- Cheiromeles
- 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
- genusCheiromeles Horsfield, 1824
- speciesCheiromeles torquatus Horsfield, 1824
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Cheiromeles. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Lesser Naked BatCheiromeles parvidens Miller & Hollister, 1921 | MolossidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
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=632203 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:5XRC3. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.