The great flying fox (''Pteropus neohibernicus''), 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 The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History The first inhabitants o ...

. 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 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 A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

, 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 The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

, though its numbers have been negatively impacted by what appeared to be a disease, as well as by hunting for

bushmeat Bushmeat is meat from wildlife species that are hunted for human consumption, most often referring to the meat of game in Africa. Bushmeat represents a primary source of animal protein and a cash-earning commodity for inhabitants of humid tropi ...

that occurs across its range.

Taxonomy

The great flying fox was described in 1876 by German naturalist Wilhelm Peters. He listed it as a variety of the black-bearded flying fox, ''Pteropus melanopogon'' var. ''neohibernicus''. The holotype had been collected on the island of New Ireland, which is part of Papua New Guinea, by Carl Hüsker. ''Neohibernicus'' is Latin for "of New Ireland". Two subspecies are recognized: *''P. n. hilli'' Felten, 1961 *''P. n. neohibernicus'' Peters, 1876 The nominate subspecies, ''P. n. neohibernicus'', is found on

New Britain New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Dam ...

and mainland New Guinea, while ''P. n. hilli'' is found on the Admiralty Islands. In part due to its wide variation in color patterns, it has a number of taxonomic synonyms, including ''Pteropus degener'' (Peters, 1876), which Irish zoologist

George Edward Dobson George Edward Dobson FRS FLS FZS (4 September 1848 at Edgeworthstown, County Longford, Ireland – 26 November 1895) was an Irish zoologist, photographer and army surgeon. He took a special interest in bats, describing many new species, and som ...

included as a variety of ''P. melanopogon'' in 1878. In the same publication, he maintained ''P. neohibernicus'' as another variety of ''P. melanopogon'', as it was initially described in 1876. Danish mammalogist Knud Andersen wrote in 1912 that ''P. neohibernicus'' was not a variety of ''P. melanopogon''. He also said that he believed that Peters had the wrong type locality for the specimen he used to describe ''P. degener''. The locality was given as the Aru Islands, but Andersen believed the specimen came from the

. In 1889, British zoologist

Oldfield Thomas Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist. Career Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for the first time. He was appoin ...

described ''Pteropus coronatus'' from a specimen collected on

Mioko Island Mioko is a populated island in the Duke of York Islands archipelago in Papua New Guinea.Giacomo Doria, was maintained as a separate species by Andersen, though he noted that the only real difference between the two taxa was that ''P. neohibernicus'' had paler fur on its back. American biologist

Colin Campbell Sanborn Colin Campbell Sanborn (1897–1962) was a US ecologist and biologist, employed as curator of birds and mammals at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. His works include taxonomic revisions of the Chiroptera bat families, and he was recog ...

described ''P. sepikensis'' in 1931 from a specimen collected near the Sepik River in northeastern New Guinea. In 1954, British mammalogists

Eleanor Mary Ord Laurie Eleanor Mary Ord Laurie Isserlis (14 January 1919 - 17 March 2009) was a British mammalogist. Early life Laurie was born in 1919 to parents Elinor Beatrice Ord and Robert Douglas Laurie. Her father was head of the Zoology Department at Aberystwyt ...

and

John Edwards Hill John Edwards Hill (11 June 1928 – 6 May 1997) was a British mammalogist who described 24 species and 26 subspecies during his career. Early life and education Hill was born on 11 June 1928 in the small hamlet of Colemans Hatch in East Sussex, ...

published that they considered ''Pteropus papuanus'' a subspecies of the great flying fox, ''Pteropus neohibernicus papuanus'', and that ''P. sepikensis'' should be tentatively regarded as a subspecies of ''P. melanopogon''. In 1979, American zoologist Karl Koopman published that he found no differences between ''P. n. papuanus'' or ''P. m. sepikensis'' and ''P. n. neohibernicus'', and thus, both should be regarded as synonyms of ''P. n. neohibernicus''. Based on a 2019 study, within the genus '' Pteropus'' the great flying fox appears most closely related to the spectacled flying fox (''P. conspicillatus''), based on nuclear DNA. However, on the basis of mitochondrial DNA, it is sister taxon to a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

containing the Pelew flying fox (''P. pelewensis'') and the insular flying fox (''P. tonganus''), while the spectacled flying fox is sister to a clade including the

Yap flying fox The Pelew flying fox (''Pteropus pelewensis'') is a species of megabat in the genus ''Pteropus'' found in the Palau Islands. A subspecies found on Yap, the Yap flying fox, is considered as a separate species by some authorities.D.E. Wilson & D.M. ...

(''P. yapensis'') and the Admiralty flying fox (''P. admiralitatum''). The disagreement of nuclear and mitochondrial evidence suggests that the six species may have a complicated evolutionary history. As the great and spectacled flying foxes both occur in New Guinea, for example, hybridization between the two at points in history would muddle their evolutionary relationships. The six species are considered part of the ''griseus'' species group within ''Pteropus'', which additionally includes the

Ceram fruit bat The Ceram fruit bat or Seram flying fox (''Pteropus ocularis'') is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae. It is endemic to the mountainous forests of two Maluku islands, Buru and Seram, including the Manusela National Park on Seram. T ...

(''P. ocularis''),

black flying fox The black flying fox or black fruit bat (''Pteropus alecto'') 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 ...

(''P. alecto''),

gray flying fox The gray flying fox (''Pteropus griseus'') is a species of flying fox in the family Pteropodidae. It is not to be confused with the grey flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus). It is found in Indonesia, but not in the Philippines, despite occasiona ...

(''P. griseus''), and the

small flying fox The small flying fox, island flying fox or variable flying fox (''Pteropus hypomelanus'') is a species of flying fox in the family Pteropodidae. It is found in Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the ...

(''P. hypomelanus'').

Description

Pteropus neohibernicus neohibernicus Proceedings Smit 2

The great flying fox is the largest bat on the island New Guinea, as well as the whole of Melanesia. Its forearm length ranges from , and individuals can weigh up to . This makes it one of the heaviest known species of bat. Males are typically larger than females. Males have a head and body length of , while females are long. Forearm lengths are and for males and females, respectively. Males also have conspicuously larger canine teeth than females. It lacks a tail, and has a long, narrow snout relative to the black-bearded flying fox. The subspecies ''P. n. hilli'' is smaller than ''P. n. neohibernicus''. The color of its fur is variable, though often golden brown, with the fur of its back usually sparse or absent. The back fur that is present is russet brown, though may be dark or pale brown. The russet brown fur is interspersed with a variable sprinkling of

buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional wr ...

-colored (brownish yellow) hairs. Its fur is typically darkest on the sides of its back and rump, as well as on the upper side of its thighs. Fur is lightest in color at the center of its back and rump. It has a mantle, or fur of contrasting color on the sides and back of its neck. The mantle is usually yellowish, with the top of the head darker than the mantle. The fur of its mantle and belly is longer than the fur of its back, at compared to . The darker brown color on the top of its head often extends down the sides of the head and between the eyes, sometimes resembling an indistinct "T"-shape.

Biology and ecology

The great flying fox is highly gregarious, or social, and forms colonies consisting of several thousand individuals. During the day, it roosts in the tops of tall trees, often along the coast. Many roost trees are located near human settlements. At night, it leaves its roost to forage for fruit. Its diet may include fruits from the family Sapotaceae, as well as

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

s and '' Ceiba pentandra'' fruits. It sometimes forages during the day, and has been observed skimming the sea to pluck fruits that are floating on the surface. Females give birth to a single offspring at a time. Near Fulleborn, Papua New Guinea, it is thought that females give birth in early December. In the Bismarck Archipelago, females with half-grown young have been seen in June. It has been speculated that the sexes may segregate into different roosts in part of the year, similar to the insular flying fox, though this is unconfirmed. Great flying fox Pteropus neohibernicus

It is known to be parasitized by

nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...

s of the genus '' Litomosa'', with the species ''L. hepatica'' newly described from a great flying fox.

Range and habitat

The great flying fox is endemic to the southwest Pacific islands of New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, and the Raja Ampat Islands, which are part of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. There is one record of it from the Australian Thursday Island. Its range includes several very small islands such as Karkar Island and

Sakar Island Sakar Island is a volcanic island north-west of New Britain in the Bismarck Sea, at . It is a stratovolcano with a summit crater lake Crater Lake ( Klamath: ''Giiwas'') is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the western United S ...

. It is unknown why the great flying fox does not occur on nearby larger islands, such as the Louisiade Archipelago and the

D'Entrecasteaux Islands D'Entrecasteaux Islands () are situated near the eastern tip of New Guinea in the Solomon Sea in Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. The group spans a distance of , has a total land area of approximately and is separated from the Papua New G ...

. It has been documented at a range of elevations from above sea level. It is found in forested and savanna habitats.

Conservation

Pteropus neohibernicus - skeleton - MUSE

The great flying fox may be threatened by disease. In 1985, many dead and dying individuals were found beneath their roosts on the island of Manus. The mass mortality event continued for several weeks across the entirety of the island; afterward, no great flying foxes were seen for several years. Along with many other ''Pteropus'' species, it is included in

Appendix II CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Appendix II is less restrictive of trade than Appendix I, though still indicates that a species may become threatened with extinction unless trade is carefully controlled. It is considered a common and abundant species, and is listed as

least-concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

by the IUCN as of 2008. It is unknown if its numbers are increasing, decreasing, or stable.

Relationship to humans

The great flying fox has been researched to determine its role in the ecology of Hendra virus, which is a zoonotic virus that can infect humans. On the north coast of Papua New Guinea, it has tested positive for antibodies against the virus, known as seropositivity. In Papua New Guinea, it is hunted for

. Localized hunting occurs over a large part of its range, with higher levels in East Sepik Province. A report from 1984 noted that local peoples caught the bats by hand, as well as killed them with arrows. In the

Daribi Dadibi (also Daribi or Karimui) is a language of eastern Papua New Guinea. In 2001, the Bible (including the Old Testament) was translated into Dadibi. Distribution Dadibi is spoken in: *Chimbu Province: Karimui-Nomane District, Tua River syste ...

language, a folklore story includes the great flying fox. The story speaks of a time in which all Daribi men lacked genitals. The men that missed out on acquiring genitals all turned into great flying foxes. It has a variety of local names, including ''yolan'' (

Olo language Olo (Orlei) is a non-Austronesian, Torricelli language of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bi ...

), ''sewio'' ( Mian language), ''domwane'' (Daribi), ''ene'' (Pawia), and ''mariboi'' (Fife Bay).

References

{{Good article Pteropus Bats of Oceania Mammals of Papua New Guinea Mammals of Western New Guinea Bismarck Archipelago Least concern biota of Oceania Mammals described in 1876 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters Bats of New Guinea