Ashy-headed flying fox

Last updated

Ashy-headed flying fox
Pteropus caniceps.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Pteropodidae
Genus: Pteropus
Species:
P. caniceps
Binomial name
Pteropus caniceps
Gray, 1870
Ashy-headed Flying Fox area.png
Ashy-headed flying fox range

The ashy-headed flying fox or North Moluccan flying fox (Pteropus caniceps) is a species of bat in the family Pteropodidae. It is endemic to Indonesia.

Contents

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described as a new species in 1870 by British zoologist John Edward Gray. The holotype had been collected on the Bacan Islands by Alfred Russel Wallace. [2] Its species name " caniceps " means "gray-headed" from Latin canus (gray) and -ceps (headed). This species has two subspecies:

Description

Its forearm is 139–141 mm (5.5–5.6 in) long. [4]

Range and habitat

This species is endemic to Indonesia. It has been found at elevations up to 1,630 m (5,350 ft) above sea level. [1]

Conservation

As of 2016, it is assessed as a vulnerable species by the IUCN. It meets the criteria for this assessment because its population decline has been at least 30% from 19922016. Additionally, it is experiencing habitat fragmentation, and it is losing habitat due to logging and mining activities. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megabat</span> Family of fruit bats

Megabats constitute the family Pteropodidae of the order Chiroptera (bats). They are also called fruit bats, Old World fruit bats, or—especially the genera Acerodon and Pteropus—flying foxes. They are the only member of the superfamily Pteropodoidea, which is one of two superfamilies in the suborder Yinpterochiroptera. Internal divisions of Pteropodidae have varied since subfamilies were first proposed in 1917. From three subfamilies in the 1917 classification, six are now recognized, along with various tribes. As of 2018, 197 species of megabat had been described.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black flying fox</span> Species of mammal

The black flying fox or black fruit bat is a bat in the family Pteropodidae. It is among the largest bats in the world, but is considerably smaller than the largest species in its genus, Pteropus. The black flying fox is native to Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia. It is not a threatened species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Admiralty flying fox</span> Species of bat

The Admiralty flying fox is a species of fruit bat in the family Pteropodidae, the megabats. It is found in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moluccan flying fox</span> Species of bat

The Moluccan flying fox, also known as the Ambon flying fox, is a species of megabat in the genus Pteropus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryukyu flying fox</span> Species of bat

The Ryukyu flying fox or Ryukyu fruit bat is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae. It is found in Japan, Taiwan, and the Batanes and Babuyan Islands of the Philippines. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss and by hunting for food and the IUCN classify it as "Vulnerable".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banks flying fox</span> Species of bat

The Banks flying fox is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae. It is endemic to Vanuatu. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical swamps. These small fruit bats are about 15 cm. long with grey and brown on its head and back with a yellow-orange neck and yellow-gray bellies. Its diet consists of coconut flowers and Vaveli trees fruit since its home is tropical.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-bearded flying fox</span> Species of mammal

The black-bearded flying fox is an endangered species of megabat in the genus Pteropus. It is endemic to Indonesia, found on the islands of Ambon, Buru, Seram, Banda, and Yamdena. Currently considered monotypic, it formerly included the Aru flying fox and Kei flying fox as subspecies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great flying fox</span> Species of mammal

The great flying fox, also known as the greater flying fox or Bismarck flying fox, is a species of megabat in the genus Pteropus, found throughout lowland areas of New Guinea and in the Bismarck Archipelago. Conflicting evidence suggests that its closest relative is either the spectacled flying fox or, jointly, the Pelew and insular flying foxes. Two subspecies are recognized. At up to 1.6 kg (3.5 lb) in weight, it is among the heaviest bats in the world and the largest bat in Melanesia. It is a gregarious animal which roosts with hundreds or thousands of individuals. In part due to its wide variation in color, it has many taxonomic synonyms, including Pteropus degener, Pteropus papuanus, and Pteropus sepikensis. It may forage during the day or night in search of fruit, including figs or fruits from the family Sapotaceae. It is considered a least-concern species by the IUCN, though its numbers have been negatively impacted by what appeared to be a disease, as well as by hunting for bushmeat that occurs across its range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masked flying fox</span> Species of bat

The masked flying fox, Moluccan masked flying fox or masked fruit bat, is a species of flying fox in the family Pteropodidae. It is endemic to Indonesia. It is part of a species complex of closely related species. The species is hunted.

<i>Pteropus pelagicus</i> Species of bat

Pteropus pelagicus is a species of fruit bat in the family Pteropodidae. It includes two subspecies that were formerly recognized as full species— Pteropus insularis and Pteropus phaeocephalus. It is endemic to Micronesia. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geelvink Bay flying fox</span> Species of bat

The Geelvink Bay flying fox or Geelvink Bay fruit bat is a species of flying fox in the family Pteropodidae. It is endemic to the islands of Yapen, Numfor, and Rani, which lie north of New Guinea in Indonesia's Papua Province. The name comes from Geelvink Bay, now Cenderawasih Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonin flying fox</span> Species of bat

The Bonin flying fox, Bonin fruit bat, or in Japanese Ogasawara giant bat is a species of flying fox in the family Pteropodidae. It is endemic to four islands in Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Its natural habitat is subtropical forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little golden-mantled flying fox</span> Species of bat

The little golden-mantled flying fox is a species of bat in the family Pteropodidae. It is found in Indonesia and the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It is threatened by hunting and habitat loss, as well as pollution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madagascan flying fox</span> Species of bat

The Madagascan flying fox, Madagascar flying-fox, or Madagascar fruit bat is a species of megabat in the genus Pteropus. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are diverse, and include moist lowland forests, dry forests, succulent woodlands, and spiny thickets, and mangroves. It eats figs and other fruits, flowers, and leaves. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Large flying fox</span> Species of fruit bat

The large flying fox, also known as the greater flying fox, Malayan flying fox, Malaysian flying fox, large fruit bat, kalang, or kalong, is a southeast Asian species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae. Despite its scientific name, it feeds exclusively on fruits, nectar, and flowers, like the other flying foxes of the genus Pteropus. It is noted for being one of the largest bats. As with nearly all other Old World fruit bats, it lacks the ability to echolocate but compensates for it with well-developed eyesight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sulawesi stripe-faced fruit bat</span> Species of bat

The Wallace's or Sulawesi stripe-faced fruit bat is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae. It is endemic to Sulawesi and the nearby Togian Islands of Indonesia. Cave paintings resembling these bats have been found in Australia, where bats of this kind are not otherwise known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aru flying fox</span> Species of bat

The Aru flying fox is a Critically Endangered species of megabat found in the Aru Islands in Indonesia. It was described by Wilhelm Peters in 1867. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the black-bearded flying fox. The species is poorly known, and has not been encountered since the 19th century. It is classified as critically endangered by the IUCN and is listed on CITES appendix II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bismarck masked flying fox</span> Species of bat

The Bismarck masked flying fox is a species of flying fox in the family Pteropodidae found in Papua New Guinea and named after the Bismarck Archipelago. It was once considered a subspecies of Pteropus temminckii before being reassessed in 2001. This species has two subspecies, P. c. capistratus and P. c. ennisae. The IUCN classified it as Near Threatened in 2009, noting that the rate of decline is almost high enough to reclassify the species as Vulnerable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big-eared flying fox</span> Species of bat

The big-eared flying fox is a species of bat in the family Pteropodidae, larger bats who subsist largely on fruits. The species is distributed across a range in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and islands nearing the Cape York peninsula at the northeast of Australia, at elevations less than 500 metres and often in coastal mangroves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christmas Island flying fox</span> Species of mammal (bat)

The Christmas Island flying fox or Christmas Island fruit bat, as the name suggests, is a flying fox endemic to Christmas Island. It is unclear if it should be considered a distinct species, or a subspecies of the black-eared flying fox. It may descend from a population of island flying foxes from Pulau Panjang near Java.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Tsang, S.M. (2016). "Pteropus caniceps". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T18719A22079034. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T18719A22079034.en . Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. Gray, J. E. (1870). Catalogue of monkeys, lemurs, and fruit-eating bats in the collection of the British Museum. Order of the Trustees. p. 107.
  3. "North Moluccan Flying Fox". BioLib.cz. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  4. Flannery, T. F. (1995). Mammals of the south-west Pacific & Moluccan Islands. Cornell University Press. p. 184. ISBN   978-0801431500.