Vanikoro fruit bat

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vanikoro fruit bat
Systematics
Superordinate : Laurasiatheria
Order : Bats (chiroptera)
Family : Fruit bats (Pteropodidae)
Tribe : Actual fruit bats (Pteropodini)
Genre : Pteropus
Type : Vanikoro fruit bat
Scientific name
Pteropus tuberculatus
Peters , 1869
Distribution area of ​​the Vanikoro flying fox

The Vanikoro flying fox ( Pteropus tuberculatus ) is an endangered species of flying fox . He is on the Solomon Islands -Insel Vanikoro endemic and is considered Lazarus taxon because it was not sighted 1926-2014.

features

The specimen examined by Wilhelm Peters , who first described it , a female that is kept in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle , has a total length of 170 mm. The head length is 55 mm, the muzzle length 20 mm, the ear length 17 mm, the ear width 12 mm, the forearm length 120 mm and the shin length 48 mm. In five males captured on the Troughton expedition in 1926, the forearm length is 112 to 124.5 mm, the shin length 51.5 mm and the ear length 18.5 to 20.2 mm. Three females collected on the same expedition have a forearm length of 119.5 to 125 mm, a shin length of 49.5 to 52 mm and an ear length of 18.5 to 20 mm. The coat color is generally russet. The top of the head and the end of the snout are pale yellow ocher. The back hair has lighter tips. The anal area and thigh skin are completely covered by the hair. The ears are remarkably short and hairy on the outside of the base half.

Occurrence

The origin of the Vanikoro fruit bat has long been unclear. In his first description from 1869, Wilhelm Peters wrote of an unknown origin. In a reconsideration by Paul Matschie in 1899, the Carolines were assumed to be the place of origin. In 1912, Knud Andersen assumed either Vanikoro or Guam in the Marianas to be the place of origin . Only Ellis Le Geyt Troughton was able to determine Vanikoro as the place of origin without a doubt after he had rediscovered twelve specimens there between July and September 1926.

Habitat and way of life

Habitat and way of life have not yet been researched.

status

The IUCN lists the Vanikoro flying fox in the “ critically endangered ” category . In 2014, a team of nature photographers from the ecotourism company Heritage Expeditions took the first photos of the Vanikoro flying fox. Two more specimens were observed in autumn 2015. After the species was thought to be lost for decades and extensive deforestation on Vanikoro in the 1950s and 1960s raised concerns that the Vanikoro flying fox had already become extinct, scientific search expeditions were started in the 1990s, which were successful in October 2014.

literature

  • Wilhelm Peters: W. Peters read remarks about new or less well-known bats, especially from the Paris Museum. Monthly reports of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin 1869: p. 391-406, 1869
  • Paul Matschie: The bats of the Berlin Museum of Natural History. Museum of Natural History in Berlin, 1899
  • K. Andersen & GE Dobson: Catalog of the Chiroptera In the collection of the British Museum. Volume I: Megachiroptera , 1912
  • Troughton, Ellis Le G .: Fixation of the habitat, and extended description, of Pteropus tuberculatus, Peters. Records of the Australian Museum 15 (5): 355-359, 1927
  • Colin Campbell Sanborn: Bats from Polynesia, Melanesia, and Malaysia. Chicago Natural History Museum .; Publications; Fieldiana., Zoology;, v. 18, no.2, Chicago, 1931
  • Tim Flannery: Mammals of the South-West Pacific & Moluccan Islands. Reed Books, Chatswood 1995, ISBN 0-7301-0417-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Peters 1869, p. 404 (see literature)
  2. ↑ Flannery 1995, p. 297 (see literature)
  3. ↑ Matschie, P, 1899, p. 29 (see literature)
  4. ↑ Andersen 1912, p. 310 (see literature)
  5. ↑ ELG Troughton 1927, pp. 355–359 (see literature)
  6. ↑ Sanborn 1931, p. 18 (see literature)
  7. ↑ Heritage Expeditions rediscovered the Vanikoro Flying Fox
  8. ↑ Ocean Watch surveys remote Temotu
  9. ↑ Usili Village, Vanikoro Island, Solomon Islands, Day 10
  10. ↑ Wildlife of Melanesia - Mammals
  11. ↑ Heritage Expeditons Species List of Melanesia