''Nyctimene '' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
bat
Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...
s in the
Pteropodidae family. Commonly known as tube-nosed fruit bats or yoda bats, they are found in the central Philippines, eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the north-east coast of Australia.
Taxonomy
The genus was described by
Moritz Balthasar Borkhausen
Moritz Balthasar Borkhausen (3 December 1760, Giessen – 30 November 1806, Darmstadt) was a German naturalist and forester. He took part in the production of ' by Johann Conrad Susemihl.
He received his education in Giessen, and in 1796 started ...
in 1797.
The name ''
Nyctimene'', derived from Ancient Greek, does not mean ‘night moon’ as has been suggested, but roughly 'who stays up at night'.
Description
The facial features of the species are distinguished by projecting nostrils, rather than the simple features of most other megabats, the appearance of which has been likened to a frightened horse.
Species
The recognised taxa are named in the vernacular as tube-nosed fruit bats or tube-nosed bats, and includes the following
* Broad-striped tube-nosed bat, ''
Nyctimene aello''
* Common tube-nosed bat, ''
Nyctimene albiventer''
* Pallas's tube-nosed bat, ''
Nyctimene cephalotes''
* Dark tube-nosed bat, ''
Nyctimene celaeno''
* Mountain tube-nosed bat, ''
Nyctimene certans''
* Round-eared tube-nosed bat, ''
Nyctimene cyclotis''
* Dragon tube-nosed bat, ''
Nyctimene draconilla''
* Keast's tube-nosed bat, ''
Nyctimene keasti''
* Island tube-nosed bat, ''
Nyctimene major''
* Malaita tube-nosed bat, ''
Nyctimene malaitensis''
* Demonic tube-nosed bat, ''
Nyctimene masalai''
* Lesser tube-nosed bat, ''
Nyctimene minutus''
* Philippine tube-nosed bat, ''
Nyctimene rabori''
* Eastern tube-nosed bat, ''
Nyctimene robinsoni
The eastern or Queensland tube-nosed bat (''Nyctimene robinsoni'') is a megabat in the family Pteropodidae that lives in north-eastern Australia. ''N. robinsoni'' is one of the few species of megabat that roosts solitarily. They get their common ...
''
* Nendo tube-nosed bat, ''
Nyctimene sanctacrucis''
* Umboi tube-nosed bat, ''
Nyctimene vizcaccia''
* New Guinea tube-nosed bat, ''
Nyctimene wrightae''
References
Further reading
Taxonomy browser (Nyctimene)Biography for Nyctimene
*The mammals on our stamps. Descriptions of the mammals featured on Papua New Guinea's October 1980 stamps issue.
*Taxonomic status of Nyctimene (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) from the Banda, Kai and Aru Islands, Maluku, Indonesia - implications for biogeography.
*Electrophoretic resolution of species boundaries in tube-nosed bats (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) in Australia and Papua New Guinea.
*Notes on distribution and taxonomy of Australasian bats. I. Pteropodinae and Nyctimeninae (Mammalia, Megachiroptera, Pteropodidae).
*Markedly discordant mitochondrial DNA and allozyme phylogenies of tube-nosed fruit bats, Nyctimene, at the Australian-oriental biogeographical interface.
Bat genera
Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque
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