Greater Monkey-faced Bat
Encyclopedia
The Greater Monkey-faced bat, (Pteralopex flanneryi) is a megabat
endemic to Solomon Islands
, Bougainville
, in Papua New Guinea
, and nearby small islands. It is listed as a critically endangered species and the population is decreasing. It is the largest Monkey-faced Bat.
Megabat
Megabats constitute the suborder Megachiroptera, family Pteropodidae of the order Chiroptera . They are also called fruit bats, old world fruit bats, or flying foxes.-Description:...
endemic to Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
, Bougainville
Bougainville
-People:*Louis Antoine de Bougainville , French navigator, explorer and military commander*Hyacinthe de Bougainville , French naval officer and son of Louis Antoine de Bougainville-Places:...
, in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
, and nearby small islands. It is listed as a critically endangered species and the population is decreasing. It is the largest Monkey-faced Bat.
"Traditionally, a single species of Pteralopex was thought to occur in the Greater Bukida Islands, Pteralopex anceps, but there are actually two species here. P. anceps is a yellow-bellied, species that, unlike P. flanneryi, prefers upland habitats (Helgen 2005). This species has been recorded from lowland forest from sea level to 200 m on the islands of Bougainville]] (including the immediately adjacent small island of Puruata), Buka, Choiseul, and Isabel (including the immediately adjacent small island of Barora Fa) (Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands). These are all land bridge fragments of a formerly larger island. This species appears to be entirely dependent on old-growth, lowland forest. It probably roosts solitarily in foliage, though it might also utilize hollows or cavities of large ficusFicusFicus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
trees (S. Hamilton pers. comm.). The generation length may be 5 years or a bit longer. Forest clearance and disturbance, along with active hunting, probably threaten this species. Hunting is likely to be a major threat, given the size of this species. Civil tensions in Bougainville from 1987 till 2000 resulted in an increase in hunting pressure."