Pteropus Brisson, 1762. Regnum Animale Ed. 2, pp. 13, 153.
Vespertilio vampirus niger Kerr, 1792, type species by designation under plenary powers of the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature
Pteropus admiralitatum Thomas, 1894.
Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 6, 13: 293.
Admiralty Flying Fox
Pteropus aldabrensis True, 1893.
Proc. U.S. Natl. Mus. 16: 533.
Aldabra Flying Fox
Pteropus alecto Temminck, 1837.
Monogr. Mamm. 2: 75.
Black Flying Fox
Pteropus allenorum Helgen, Helgen & Wilson, 2009.
Am. Mus. Novitates 3646: 6.
Allen's Flying Fox
Pteropus anetianus Gray, 1870.
Cat. Monkeys, Lemurs, Fruit-eating Bats Brit. Mus. p. 101.
Vanuatu Flying Fox
Pteropus aruensis Peters, 1867.
Monatsb. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1867: 330.
Aru Flying Fox
Pteropus brunneus Dobson, 1878.
Cat. Chiroptera Brit. Mus. p. 37.
Dusky Flying Fox
Pteropus caniceps Gray, 1870.
Cat. Monkeys, Lemurs, Fruit-eating Bats Brit. Mus. p. 107.
North Moluccan Flying Fox
Pteropus capistratus Peters, 1876.
Monatsb. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1876: 316.
Bismark Masked Flying Fox
Pteropus chrysoproctus Temminck, 1837.
Monogr. Mamm. 2: 67.
Moluccan Flying Fox
Pteropus cognatus K. Andersen, 1908.
Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 8, 2: 365.
Makira Flying Fox
Pteropus conspicillatus Gould, 1850.
Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 17 (1849): 109.
Spectacled Flying Fox
Pteropus coxi Helgen, Helgen & Wilson, 2009.
Am. Mus. Novitates 3646: 14.
Cox's Flying Fox
Pteropus dasymallus Temminck, 1825.
Monogr. Mamm. 1: 180.
Ryukyu Flying Fox
Pteropus ennisae Flannery & White, 1991.
Natl. Geo. Res. Exp. 7(1): 100.
Latangai Flying Fox
Pteropus faunulus Miller, 1902.
Proc. U.S. Natl. Mus. 24: 785.
Nicobar Flying Fox
Pteropus fundatus Felten & Kock, 1972.
Senckenberg. Biol. 53: 186.
Banks Flying Fox
Pteropus gilliardi Van Deusen, 1969.
Am. Mus. Novitates 2371: 5.
Gilliard's Flying Fox
Pteropus griseus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1810).
Ann. Mus. Natn. Hist. Nat. Paris 15: 94.
Gray Flying Fox
Pteropus howensis Troughton, 1931.
Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 56: 204.
Ontong Java Flying Fox
Pteropus hypomelanus Temminck, 1853.
Esquisses Zool. sur la Côte de Guine p. 61.
Variable Flying Fox
Pteropus intermedius K. Andersen, 1908.
Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 8, 2: 368.
Andersen's Flying Fox
Pteropus keyensis Peters, 1867.
Monatsb. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1867: 330.
Kei Flying Fox
Pteropus livingstonii Gray, 1866.
Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1866: 66.
Comoro Flying Fox
Pteropus lombocensis Dobson, 1878.
Cat. Chiroptera Brit. Mus. p. 34.
Lombok Flying Fox
Pteropus lylei K. Andersen, 1908.
Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 8, 2: 367.
Lyle's Flying Fox
Pteropus macrotis Peters, 1867.
Monatsb. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1867: 327.
Big-eared Flying Fox
Pteropus mahaganus Sanborn, 1931.
Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Publ., Zool. Ser. 18(2): 19.
Sanborn's Flying Fox
Pteropus mariannus Desmarest, 1822.
Mammalogie, in Encycl. Méth. 2(Suppl.), p. 547.
Marianas Flying Fox
Pteropus medius Temminck, 1825.
Monogr. Mamm. 1: 176.
Indian Flying Fox
Pteropus melanopogon Peters, 1867.
Monatsb. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1867: 330.
Black-bearded Flying Fox
Pteropus melanotus Blyth, 1863.
Cat. Mamm. Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta p. 20.
Black-eared Flying Fox
Pteropus molossinus Temminck, 1853.
Esquisses Zool. sur la Côte de Guine p. 62.
Caroline Flying Fox
Pteropus neohibernicus Peters, 1876.
Monatsb. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1876: 317.
Great Flying Fox
Pteropus niger (Kerr, 1792).
In Linnaeus, Anim. Kingdom 1: 90.
Greater Mascarene Flying Fox
Pteropus nitendiensis Sanborn, 1930.
Am. Mus. Novitates 435: 2.
Temotu Flying Fox
Pteropus ocularis Peters, 1867.
Monatsb. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1867: 326.
Seram Flying Fox
Pteropus ornatus Gray, 1870.
Cat. Monkeys, Lemurs, Fruit-eating Bats Brit. Mus. p. 105.
Ornate Flying Fox
Pteropus pelagicus Kittlitz, 1836.
Observation Zoologiques faites pendant l'expedition de la corvette Le Seniavine p. 298.
Seaside Flying Fox
Pteropus pelewensis K. Andersen, 1908.
Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 8, 2: 364.
Pelew Flying Fox
Pteropus personatus Temminck, 1825.
Monogr. Mamm. 1: 189.
Moluccan Masked Flying Fox
Pteropus pilosus K. Andersen, 1908.
Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 8, 2: 369.
Large Pelew Flying Fox
Pteropus pohlei Stein, 1933.
Z. Säugetierk. 8: 93.
Geelvink Bay Flying Fox
Pteropus poliocephalus Temminck, 1825.
Monogr. Mamm. 1: 179.
Gray-headed Flying Fox
Pteropus pselaphon Lay, 1829.
Zool. J. 4: 457.
Bonin Flying Fox
Pteropus pumilus Miller, 1911.
Proc. U.S. Natl. Mus. 38: 394.
Little Golden-mantled Flying Fox
Pteropus rayneri Gray, 1870.
Cat. Monkeys, Lemurs, Fruit-eating Bats Brit. Mus. p. 108.
Solomons Flying Fox
Pteropus rennelli Troughton, 1929.
Rec. Aust. Mus. 17: 193.
Rennell Flying Fox
Pteropus rodricensis Dobson, 1878.
Cat. Chiroptera Brit. Mus. p. 36.
Rodrigues Flying Fox
Pteropus rufus É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803.
Cat. Mamm. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat. Paris p. 47.
Malagasy Flying Fox
Pteropus samoensis Peale, 1849.
Mammalia in Repts. U.S. Expl. Surv. 8: 20.
Samoan Flying Fox
Pteropus scapulatus Peters, 1862.
Monatsb. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1862: 574.
Little Red Flying Fox
Pteropus seychellensis Milne-Edwards, 1878.
Bull. Sci. Soc. Philom. Paris sér. 7, 2: 221.
Seychelles Flying Fox
Pteropus speciosus K. Andersen, 1908.
Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 8, 2: 364.
Philippine Gray Flying Fox
Pteropus subniger (Kerr, 1792).
In Linnaeus, Anim. Kingdom 1: 91.
Dark Flying Fox
Pteropus temminckii Peters, 1867.
Monatsb. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1867: 331.
Temminck's Flying Fox
Pteropus tokudae Tate, 1934.
Am. Mus. Novitates 713: 1.
Guam Flying Fox
Pteropus tonganus Quoy & Gaimard, 1830.
In d'Urville, Voy...de Astrolabe, Zool. 1(L'Homme, Mamm., Oiseaux): 74.
Pacific Flying Fox
Pteropus tuberculatus Peters, 1869.
Monatsb. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1869: 393.
Vanikoro Flying Fox
Pteropus ualanus Peters, 1883.
Ges. Nat. Fr. 1: 1.
Kosrae Flying Fox
Pteropus vampyrus (Linnaeus, 1758).
Syst. Nat., 10th ed. 1: 31.
Large Flying Fox
Pteropus vetulus Jouan, 1863.
Mem. Soc. Imp. Sci. Nat. Cherbourg 9: 90.
New Caledonian Flying Fox
vetulus Jouan, 1863:
germaini Dobson, 1878;
macmillani Tate, 1942.
New Caledonia (France)
New Caledonia (France)
CITES - Appendix II (2023). IUCN - Near Threatened as Pteropus vetula (2020).
References:
Almeida, F.C., N.P. Giannini, N.B. Simmons, and K.M. Helgen. 2014. Each flying fox on its own branch: a phylogenetic tree for Pteropus and related genera (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 77: 83-95. Read article.
Felten, H 1964. Flughunde der Gattung Pteropus von Neukaledonien und den Loyalty-Inseln. Senckenbergiana Biologica 45: 671-683. Not available online.
Flannery, T.F. 1995. Mammals of the South-West Pacific and Moluccan Islands. Cornell University Press, Ithaca: 464 pp. Not available online.
Hintsche, S. 2019. Pteropus vetula. Pages 149-150 In D.E. Wilson and R.A. Mittermeier (eds.) Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. Not available online.
Ingleby, S., and D. Colgan. 2003. Electrophoretic studies of the systematic and biogeographic relationships of the Fijian bat genera Pteropus, Pteralopex, Chaerephon and Notopteris.. Australian Mammalogy 25(1): 13-29. Read abstract.
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999. International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Fourth Edition. [Including Declaration 44, amendments of Article 74.7.3, and the Amendment on e-publication]. The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, London: 306 pp. Read book.
Jouan, H. 1863. Sur quelques anuimaux observés a la Nouvelle-Calédonie, pendant les années 1861 et 1862. Mémoires de la Société Impériale des Sciences Naturelles de Cherbourg 9(1863): 89-127. Read article.
Peters, H.W. 1868 [dated 1867]. Hr. W. Peters las über die Fiederhunde, Pteropi, und insbesondere über die Arten der Gattung Pteropus s. s. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussische Akademie des Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1867: 319-333. Read article.
Tsang, S.M.S. 2015. Phylogeography of Southeast Asian flying foxes (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae: Pteropus) (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation). City University of New York New York. Read dissertation.
Pteropus voeltzkowi Matschie, 1909.
Sitzb. Ges. Naturf. Fr. Berlin p. 486.
Pemba Flying Fox
Pteropus woodfordi Thomas, 1888.
Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 6, 1: 156.
Dwarf Flying Fox
vetulus species group; see Almeida et al. (2014). And see also Tsang (2015). Includes macmillani; see Felten (1964). Also see Flannery (1995) and Ingleby and Colgan (2003). The original spelling of the species epithet is vetula, meaning "old woman," and the epithet was capitalized in the text. Jouan (1863) capitalized nouns in apposition, and therefore "vetula" should be considered a noun in apposition, which would retain its original spelling with the gender ending unchanged when transferred to another genus (ICZN article 31.2.1,1999; Hintsche, 2019; Zijlstra, pers.comm, 2023). However, as early as 1867, Peters (1867) used the spelling vetulus, "old man," and attributed it to the original describer, Jouan (1863), even though the species remained in Pteropus. Since that time, "vetulus" has been the only spelling used until 2019, when Hintsche (2019) pointed out that "vetula" was the original spelling. Given that "vetulus" has been in prevailing use for more than a century, we conserve "vetulus" following sections 33.2.3.1 and 33.3.1 of the ICZN, which state that spellings in prevailing use and attributed to the original describer should be considered "justified emendations" and preserved as the "correct original spelling."