Mammals · La Saladita, Guerrero

Mexican Free-tailed Bat

Tadarida brasiliensis

Spanish: Murciélago cola de ratón

Mexican Free-tailed Bat (Tadarida brasiliensis)
Photographed by kempo63 on iNaturalist · CC-BY-NC · taken in 45211 Co Rd 32B, Davis, CA 95618, USA, not near La Saladita

The Mexican free-tailed bat or Brazilian free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) is a medium-sized bat native to the Americas, regarded as one of the most abundant mammals in North America. Its proclivity towards roosting in huge numbers at relatively few locations makes it vulnerable to habitat destruction in spite of its abundance. It has been claimed to have the fastest horizontal speed (as opposed to stoop diving speed) of any animal, reaching top ground speeds over 100 mph

TaxonomyMammalia › Chiroptera › Molossidae
Local recordsNot recorded by research-grade iNaturalist observations within about 50 km; listed from the site's curated guide
Global records6,760 on iNaturalist

Interactive card with more photos, sounds and similar species Mammals guide iNaturalist Wikipedia

Cite as: “Mexican Free-tailed Bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) at La Saladita”, La Saladita Field Guide, lasaladita.com/species/tadarida-brasiliensis/, updated 2026-09-26. Observation counts and months come from iNaturalist research-grade records within about 50 km of 17.8375°N, 101.7606°W (the survey box also takes in Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa and Troncones); summary text from Wikipedia where present.