page_title: List of mammals of South America
section_title: Order: Chiroptera (bats)
hierarchical_section_title: List of mammals of South America / Subclass: Theria / Infraclass: Eutheria / Superorder: Laurasiatheria / Order: Chiroptera (bats)
caption_attribution_description: English: Carollia brevicauda with wings held extended. Taken in Colombia.
context_page_description: This is a list of the native wild mammal species recorded in South America. South America's terrestrial mammals fall into three distinct groups: "old-timers", African immigrants and recent North American immigrants. The marsupials and xenarthrans are "old-timers", their ancestors having been present on the continent since at least the very early Cenozoic Era. During the early Cenozoic, South America's only land connection was to Antarctica, so it was effectively cut off from most of the world; as the fragments of Gondwana continued to separate, this connection was lost, leaving South America an island continent. Caviomorph rodents and monkeys arrived as "waif dispersers" by rafting across the Atlantic from Africa in the Eocene epoch, 35 million or more years ago. All the remaining nonflying mammals of South America are recent arrivals, having migrated from North America via Central America during the past seven million years as part of the Great American Interchange; this invasion, which peaked around three million years ago, was made possible when the formation of the volcanic Isthmus of Panama bridged North and South America.
context_section_description: The bats' most distinguishing feature is that their forelimbs are developed as wings, making them the only mammals capable of flight. Bat species account for about 20% of all mammals.
  Family: Noctilionidae (bulldog bats)
  Genus: Noctilio
  Lesser bulldog bat, Noctilio albiventris LC
  Greater bulldog bat, Noctilio leporinus LC
  Family: Vespertilionidae
  Subfamily: Myotinae
  Genus: Myotis
  Southern myotis, Myotis aelleni DD
  Silver-tipped myotis, Myotis albescens LC
  Atacama myotis, Myotis atacamensis NT
  Chilean myotis, Myotis chiloensis LC
  Myotis dinellii LC
  Hairy-legged myotis, Myotis keaysi LC
  Yellowish myotis, Myotis levis LC
  Myotis midastactus NE
  Curacao myotis, Myotis nesopolus LC
  Black myotis, Myotis nigricans LC
  Montane myotis, Myotis oxyotus LC
  Riparian myotis, Myotis riparius LC
  Red myotis, Myotis ruber NT
  Velvety myotis, Myotis simus DD
  Subfamily: Vespertilioninae
  Genus: Eptesicus
  Little black serotine, Eptesicus andinus LC
  Brazilian brown bat, Eptesicus brasiliensis LC
  Chiriquinan serotine, Eptesicus chiriquinus LC
  Diminutive serotine, Eptesicus diminutus DD
  Argentine brown bat, Eptesicus furinalis LC
  Big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus LC
  Harmless serotine, Eptesicus innoxius NT
  Eptesicus taddeii
  Genus: Histiotus
  Strange big-eared brown bat, Histiotus alienus DD
  Humboldt big-eared brown bat, Histiotus humboldti DD
  Thomas's big-eared brown bat, Histiotus laephotis NT
  Big-eared brown bat, Histiotus macrotus LC
  Southern big-eared brown bat, Histiotus magellanicus LC
  Small big-eared brown bat, Histiotus montanus LC
  Tropical big-eared brown bat, Histiotus velatus DD
  Genus: Lasiurus
  Lasiurus atratus LC
  Desert red bat, Lasiurus blossevillii LC
  Tacarcuna bat, Lasiurus castaneus DD
  Hoary bat, Lasiurus cinereus LC
  Hairy-tailed bat, Lasiurus ebenus DD
  Southern yellow bat, Lasiurus ega LC
  Big red bat, Lasiurus egregius DD
  Pfeiffer's red bat, Lasiurus pfeifferi
  Saline red bat, Lasiurus salinae
  Cinnamon red bat, Lasiurus varius LC
  Genus: Rhogeessa
  Husson's yellow bat, Rhogeessa hussoni DD
  Thomas's yellow bat, Rhogeessa io LC
  Tiny yellow bat, Rhogeessa minutilla VU
  Subfamily: Tomopeatinae
  Genus: Tomopeas
  Blunt-eared bat, Tomopeas ravus VU
  Family: Molossidae (free-tailed bats)
  Genus: Cynomops
  Cinnamon dog-faced bat, Cynomops abrasus DD
  Greenhall's dog-faced bat, Cynomops greenhalli LC
  Para dog-faced bat, Cynomops paranus DD
  Southern dog-faced bat, Cynomops planirostris LC
  Genus: Eumops
  Black bonneted bat, Eumops auripendulus LC
  Dwarf bonneted bat, Eumops bonariensis LC
  Big bonneted bat, Eumops dabbenei LC
  Wagner's bonneted bat, Eumops glaucinus LC
  Sanborn's bonneted bat, Eumops hansae LC
  Guianan bonneted bat, Eumops maurus DD
  Patagonian bonneted bat, Eumops patagonicus LC
  Western mastiff bat, Eumops perotis LC
  Colombian bonneted bat, Eumops trumbulli LC
  Wilson's bonneted bat, Eumops wilsoni
  Genus: Molossops
  Equatorial dog-faced bat, Molossops aequatorianus VU
  Mato Grosso dog-faced bat, Molossops mattogrossensis LC
  Rufous dog-faced bat, Molossops neglectus DD
  Dwarf dog-faced bat, Molossops temminckii LC
  Genus: Molossus
  Barnes's mastiff bat, Molossus barnesi DD
  Coiban mastiff bat, Molossus coibensis LC
  Bonda mastiff bat, Molossus currentium LC
  Velvety free-tailed bat, Molossus molossus LC
  Miller's mastiff bat, Molossus pretiosus LC
  Black mastiff bat, Molossus rufus LC
  Sinaloan mastiff bat, Molossus sinaloae LC
  Molossus trinitatis
  Genus: Mormopterus
  Kalinowski's mastiff bat, Mormopterus kalinowskii LC
  Incan little mastiff bat, Mormopterus phrudus VU
  Genus: Nyctinomops
  Peale's free-tailed bat, Nyctinomops aurispinosus LC
  Broad-eared bat, Nyctinomops laticaudatus LC
  Big free-tailed bat, Nyctinomops macrotis LC
  Genus: Promops
  Big crested mastiff bat, Promops centralis LC
  Brown mastiff bat, Promops nasutus LC
  Genus: Tadarida
  Mexican free-tailed bat, Tadarida brasiliensis LC
  Family: Emballonuridae (ghost bats, sac-winged bats and allies)
  Genus: Balantiopteryx
  Ecuadorian sac-winged bat, Balantiopteryx infusca EN
  Gray sac-winged bat, Balantiopteryx plicata LC
  Genus: Centronycteris
  Thomas's shaggy bat, Centronycteris centralis LC
  Shaggy bat, Centrony
caption: Silky short-tailed bat
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