Molossus is a genus of bats. The genus contains ten species with a New World distribution from Mexico in the north to northern Argentina at its most southerly limit. Four of these species have distributions that include various islands in the West Indies such as Puerto Rico or Trinidad.
The genus belongs to a group commonly referred to as free-tailed bats. Its name is from the ancient Molossus breed of shepherd dog.The Mammals of the Southern African Sub-region by J. D. Skinner, , 2006, p. 277, "The name of the [free-tailed bats] family is derived from the Greek molossus, a kind of dog used by Greek shepherds in ancient times." __TOC__ Systematics The following species are recognised: Molossus alvarezi Molossus aztecus Saussure, 1860 Molossus bondae Molossus coibensis Allen, 1904 Molossus currentium Thomas, 1901 Molossus molossus (Pallas, 1766) Molossus pretiosus Miller, 1902 Molossus rufus E. Geoffroy, 1805 Molossus sinaloae
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