Animal Database

Hi Homo sapien! Welcome to Animal Database! Anyway, did you know that you're 60% genetically similar to banana trees?

READ MORE

Animal Database
Register
Advertisement
Animal Database
Small Mauritian Flying Fox
250px-Pteropus subniger
Specimen in Museum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris
Information
Common Name Dark Flying Fox
Range Réunion and Mauritius in the Mascarene Islands of the Indian Ocean.
Scientific Classification
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Mammalia
Order Chiroptera
Family Pteropodidae
Genus Pteropus
Species Pteropus subniger
Conservation Status
EXSpecies
Extinct

The Small mauritian flying fox or dark flying fox (Pteropus subniger, known as rougettes to early French travelers) is an extinct species of megabat. It lived on the islands of Réunion and Mauritius in the Mascarene Islands of the Indian Ocean. It was abundant, with up to 400 sometimes crowding together at a single roost in a cave or in an ancient, hollow tree, while most other fruit bats prefer to roost in the branches of large trees. Local people believed there was only one male per roost, which may indicate the sexes roosted separately and the large roosts were maternity colonies. This flying fox was nocturnal and had delicate teeth, so it probably fed on nectar and possibly soft fruit.

As it roosted in old trees and caves, it was vulnerable to forest clearance and hunting. It probably vanished in the 19th century. There are specimens in museums in Paris, London, Berlin, and Sydney.

Extinction[]

History[]

Advertisement