''Mops jobimena'', commonly known as the black and red free-tailed bat, is a species of

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

in the family Molossidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to western

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. With a forearm length of 45 to 48 mm (1.8 to 1.9 in),

Habitat

The known habitats of the species are tropical dry deciduous forest and spiny forest at altitudes from 50 to 870 m. It roosts in trees as well as in houses and other buildings, but has not been found to commonly roost in caves.

Taxonomy

Although currently listed as a member of the genus ''

Mops MOPS (3-(''N''-morpholino)propanesulfonic acid) is a buffer solution, buffer introduced in the 1960s, one of the twenty Good's buffers. It is a structural analog to MES (buffer), MES, and like MES, its structure contains a morpholine ring. HEPES ...

'', whose members it resembles morphologically, ''M. jobimenas closest relatives based on molecular evidence are ''

Tadarida aegyptiaca The Egyptian free-tailed bat, also known as Egyptian guano bat or Egyptian nyctinome, (''Tadarida aegyptiaca'') is a species of bat in the family Molossidae. Description The Egyptian free-tailed bat has fine, dense fur which is greyish brown, sh ...

'' of Africa and southwest Asia, and ''

Tadarida brasiliensis The Mexican free-tailed bat or Brazilian free-tailed bat (''Tadarida brasiliensis'') is a medium-sized bat native to North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean, so named because its tail can be almost half its total length and is not a ...

'' of the Americas, which form a clade believed to be about 9.8 million years old. ''M. jobimena'' and ''T. aegyptiaca'' were found to be

sister species In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

. The morphological resemblance thus apparently represents

parallel Parallel may refer to: Mathematics * Parallel (geometry), two lines in the Euclidean plane which never intersect * Parallel (operator), mathematical operation named after the composition of electrical resistance in parallel circuits Science a ...

or convergent evolution.

Conservation status

Although the species is not common, it has an extensive range that includes the vicinity of four protected areas, and is not believed to be dependent on undisturbed forest habitat. For these reasons, it has been categorized as being of '

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

' by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

. Subsistence hunting may be a threat in southern Madagascar.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2280051 J Bats of Africa Endemic fauna of Madagascar Mammals of Madagascar Mammals described in 2004

Habitat

Taxonomy

Conservation status

See also

References