Cheiromeles

Cheiromeles is a genus of bats in the family Molossidae, the free-tailed bats.^[1] The genus was erected and described by Thomas Horsfield, who developed the name from the Greek word cheir ("hand"), a reference to the hand-like hindfoot, which has a toe that flexes like an opposable thumb.^[2] These bats have mostly hairless bodies and fold their wings into pouches of skin along their bodies when at rest.^[3] These are among the largest insectivorous bats, weighing up to 135 grams.^[4]

Cheiromeles
Cheiromeles torquatus museum specimen
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Chiroptera
Family:	Molossidae
Genus:	Cheiromeles Horsfield, 1824
Type species
Cheiromeles torquata Horsfield, 1824
Species
2, see text

There are two species in this genus:^[2]

• Lesser naked bat Cheiromeles parvidens
• Hairless bat Cheiromeles torquatus