The Angolan free-tailed bat (''Mops condylurus'') is a species of
bat in the family
Molossidae. It is found in
Angola,
Benin,
Botswana,
Burkina Faso,
Burundi
Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...
,
Cameroon, the
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...
, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
,
Eswatini
Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...
,
Ethiopia,
Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
,
Ghana,
Guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
,
Kenya,
Malawi,
Mali,
Mozambique,
Namibia,
Niger,
Nigeria,
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
,
Senegal,
Sierra Leone,
Somalia,
South Africa,
South Sudan,
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
,
Tanzania,
Togo,
Uganda,
Zambia, and
Zimbabwe.
Its natural habitats are dry and moist
savanna, although it is sometimes found at the edges of woodlands.
Taxonomy and etymology
Scottish zoologist
Andrew Smith in 1833
described it as a new species. He placed it in the now-defunct genus ''Nyctinomus'', with a binomial of ''Nyctinomus condylurus''.
Its
species name "''condylurus''" was likely derived from the
Latin "''
condylus''". In anatomy,
condyle refers to a round prominence at the end of the bone. Smith referred to the Angolan free-tailed bat as "knob-tailed".
Description
It has short, silky fur. Its fur is brown, ears are black, and wings are blackish-brown. Its lips are wrinkled. Half of the tail extends beyond the edge of the
uropatagium. From nose to tip of tail, it is approximately long.
Biology and ecology
It is
nocturnal
Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite.
Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...
and roosts in sheltered places during the day, such as human structures, tree hollows, and rock crevices.
Conservation
As of 2017, it was evaluated as a
least-concern species by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1832498
Mops (bat)
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Bats of Africa
Mammals described in 1833
Taxa named by Andrew Smith (zoologist)