Beaufort's naked-backed fruit bat (''Dobsonia beauforti'') is a species of

megabat 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 su ...

in the family Pteropodidae. It roosts in caves.

Taxonomy and etymology

Beaufort's naked-backed fruit bat was described as a new species in 1975 by W. Bergmans. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

was collected in 1909 by

Lieven Ferdinand de Beaufort Lieven Ferdinand de Beaufort (March 23, 1879 in Den Treek, Leusden – 11 May 1968 in Amersfoort) was a Dutch biologist who, in 1903, participated in the North New Guinea Expedition. In the 1920s he was director of the Zoological Museum of Ar ...

in Waigeo, Indonesia. De Beaufort is the

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

for the

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

"''beauforti''."

Description

Its ears, flight membranes, and back lacks fur. Its forearm length is . It is

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

, with males larger than females. Males are also a bright, yellowish-green in contrast to the drab brown fur of the females. It is similar in appearance to the

greenish naked-backed fruit bat The greenish naked-backed fruit bat (''Dobsonia viridis'') is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae. It is endemic to some of the northeastern Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia, being found on the Kai Islands, the Banda Islands, and the ...

, with which it may be confused.

Range and habitat

It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, where its range includes the

Raja Ampat ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested fr ...

Biak Biak is an island located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua (province), Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak is the largest island in its small archipelago, and has many atolls, reefs, and c ...

, and Supiori islands in

Cenderawasih Bay Cenderawasih Bay ( id, Teluk Cenderawasih, "Bird of Paradise Bay"), also known as Sarera Bay ( id, Teluk Sarera) and formerly Geelvink Bay ( nl, Geelvinkbaai), is a large bay in northern Province of Papua, Central Papua and West Papua, New Guine ...

Conservation

As of 2016, it is listed as a

least-concern species 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 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 ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q301799 Dobsonia Bats of Indonesia Endemic fauna of Indonesia Mammals of Western New Guinea Least concern biota of Asia Least concern biota of Oceania Mammals described in 1975 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Bats of New Guinea