biology

Guam flying fox

Guam flying fox is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Guam flying fox rather than just read about it. In short: The Guam flying fox (Pteropus tokudae), also known as the little Marianas fruit bat, is an extinct species of small megabat endemic to Guam in the Marianas Islands in Micronesia that was confirmed extinct due to hunting or habitat changes. It was first recorded in 1931 and was observed roosting with the larger and much more common Mariana fruit bat.

Key takeaways

Guam flying fox belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Guam flying fox to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Guam flying fox from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Guam flying fox (Pteropus tokudae), also known as the little Marianas fruit bat, is an extinct species of small megabat endemic to Guam in the Marianas Islands in Micronesia that was confirmed extinct due to hunting or habitat changes. It was first recorded in 1931 and was observed roosting with the larger and much more common Mariana fruit bat. The last specimen was a female found roosting at Tarague cliff in March 1967, but it escaped capture. An unconfirmed sighting took place sometime during the 1970s, and no other individuals have been sighted since then.

Description The Guam flying fox had a length of about 15 cm (6 in), a wingspan of about 70 cm (28 in), and a body weight of 152 g (5.4 oz). It was very similar in appearance to the Chuuk flying fox (Pteropus insularis). The top of the head was greyish, while its back, throat, and underparts were brown or dark brown, and the side of the neck was golden-brown.

Behaviour Little is known about the behaviour of this flying fox, but it is likely that it fed on the fruits, flowers, and foliage of evergreen shrubs and trees that are characteristic of the limestone forests found in the northern part of Guam. Similarly, not much is known about its reproductive habits, but an incident in 1968, where a female was shot, revealed that she was accompanied by an immature individual. This suggests the possibility of ongoing parental care.

Status There are no confirmed records of sightings of this bat since the 1970s and the IUCN lists it as being "Extinct". The guam flying fox was last seen in 1967 and it was declared extinct in the wild in 1976. The guam flying fox was declared extinct by the IUCN Red List in 2004. When it was more plentiful, it was hunted by humans for food, which may have contributed to its extinction. Another factor may have been the introduction, into the island, of the predatory brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis). In September 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed declaring the species extinct, and it was delisted effective November 2023 in accordance with the Endangered Species Act.

Footnotes

References Flannery, Tim and Peter Schouten (2001). A Gap in Nature. Published by William Heinemann

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Guam flying fox

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Guam flying fox claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Guam flying fox before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Guam flying fox ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Guam flying fox

In research: Guam flying fox appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Guam flying fox in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Guam flying fox is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1967 in the environment, Bats of Oceania, Extinct animals of Oceania, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Guam flying fox outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Guam flying fox in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Guam flying fox means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Guam flying fox out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Guam flying fox in simple terms?

Why does Guam flying fox matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Guam flying fox?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Guam flying fox.