Pteropodidae is one of the twenty families of bats in the mammalian order Chiroptera and part of the Yinpterochiroptera suborder. Members of this family are called pteropodids, fruit bats, flying foxes, or megabats. They are found in Africa, Asia, and Australia, primarily in forests and caves, though some can be found in savannas, shrublands, wetlands, and rocky areas. They range in size from the long-tongued nectar bat, at 4 cm (2 in) plus a minute tail, to the great flying fox, at 37 cm (15 in) with no tail. Like all bats, pteropodids are capable of true and sustained flight, and have forearm lengths ranging from 3 cm (1 in) for several species to 23 cm (9 in) for the large flying fox, which has an overall wingspan of up to 1.7 m (5.6 ft). Most species primarily or exclusively eat fruit, though the ten species of the subfamily Macroglossusinae primarily eat pollen and nectar and the sixteen species of the genus Nyctimene sometimes eat insects. Most pteropodids do not have population estimates, though six species have been driven extinct in modern times: the Guam flying fox, large Palau flying fox, large Samoan flying fox, Percy Island flying fox, small Mauritian flying fox, and small Samoan flying fox, 29 species are categorized as endangered species, and 7 species are categorized as critically endangered: Bulmer's fruit bat, Philippine naked-backed fruit bat, Fijian monkey-faced bat, greater monkey-faced bat, montane monkey-faced bat, Aru flying fox, and Ontong Java flying fox, with populations as low as 50 or fewer. The 193 extant species of Pteropodidae are divided into seven subfamilies: Cynopterinae, with 28 species in 15 genera; Eidolinae, with 2 species in a single genus; Harpyionycterinae, with 18 species in 4 genera; Nyctimeninae, with 18 species in 2 genera; Pteropodinae, with 75 species in 7 genera plus 6 extinct species; Rousettinae, with 41 species in 13 genera; and Macroglossusinae, with 10 species in 5 genera. Several extinct prehistoric pteropodid species have been discovered, though due to ongoing research and discoveries the exact number and categorization is not fixed.
Conventions
The author citation for the species or genus is given after the scientific name; parentheses around the author citation indicate that this was not the original taxonomic placement. Conservation status codes listed follow the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Range maps are provided wherever possible; if a range map is not available, a description of the pteropodid's range is provided. Ranges are based on the IUCN Red List for that species unless otherwise noted. All extinct species or subspecies listed alongside extant species went extinct after 1500 CE, and are indicated by a dagger symbol "†".
Classification The family Pteropodidae consists of 193 extant species in seven subfamilies: Eidolinae, Harpyionycterinae, Nyctimeninae, Pteropodinae, Rousettinae, and Macroglossusinae. There are additionally six species that have been made extinct in the modern era in Pteropodinae.
Pteropodids The following classification is based on the taxonomy described by the reference work Mammal Species of the World (2005), with augmentation by generally accepted proposals made since using molecular phylogenetic analysis, as supported by both the IUCN and the American Society of Mammalogists.
Subfamily Cynopterinae
Subfamily Eidolinae
Subfamily Harpyionycterinae
Subfamily Nyctimeninae
Subfamily Pteropodinae
Subfamily Rousettinae
Subfamily Macroglossusinae
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