Tadarida insignis

(E. Blyth, 1862)

East Asian Free-tailed Bat

Taxonomy

Subclass: Theria
Infraclass: Placentalia
Magnorder: Boreoeutheria
Superorder: Laurasiatheria
Order: Chiroptera
Suborder: Yangochiroptera
Superfamily: Vespertilionoidea
Family: Molossidae
Subfamily: Molossinae
Genus: Tadarida

Species status

Living
Found in the wild
Listed in MSW3 2005

Authority citation

Blyth, E. 1862. Report of Curator, Zoological Department, May and June. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 30(1):90-98.

Original name as described

Nyctinomus insignis

Other common names

Oriental Free-tailed Bat

Type material

ZSI 15604

Type kind

holotype

Type locality

Amoy [= Xiamen], " south-eastern Fujian Province, China.

Biogeographic realm

Palearctic

Country distribution

China · India · Japan · Nepal · North Korea · Russia · South Korea · Taiwan · Bhutan? · Myanmar?

Distribution notes

Includes records from India previously assigned to T. teniotis. An acoustic record of T. teniotis from Nepal is also presumed to be T. insignis. There are literature records of T. teniotis from Bhutan and Myanmar. Occurrence of T. insignis is plausible in both countries but we have not found the basis for these records.

Distribution references

Saikia, U., Chakravarty, R., Csorba, G., Laskar, M.A. and Ruedi, M. 2025. Taxonomic reassessment of bats from the Western Himalayas, India and description of a new species of the Myotis frater complex (Mammalia, Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae). Zootaxa 5644(1):1-78. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1 · Sharma, B., Chakravarty, R. and Acharya, P.R. 2021. The first record of European free-tailed bat, Tadarida teniotis Rafinesque, 1814, and note on probable elevational movement from Nepal. Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity 14(2):248-253. doi:10.1016/j.japb.2021.02.001

IUCN Red List status

Not Evaluated

Country distribution map

The map below provides a general overview. Most species inhabit only specific regions within countries. Known distribution is shown in green and predicted distribution is in yellow.Hover over the highlighted regions to see the country name.

KnownPredicted distribution

Names and synonyms

Present and past (if available) associated names to the species. Click on a name to view its details.

Total: 9 names and synonyms.

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