[2] In 2008, the Natal free-tailed bat was split into two taxa with the description of a new species, Mormopterus francoismoutoui.

The species is called the "Natal" free-tailed bat because of another species Hermann described, Dysopes natalensis, named after the Natal Province of South Africa.

Dysopes natalensis was later synonymized with the Natal free-tailed bat.

Its ears are small and connected in the back by a thin interaural membrane.

Males have a sebaceous gland, as with some other free-tailed bats, but they do not have an interaural crest.