Discover Top Posts Tagged with #pteropus

A group of little red flying foxes (Pteropus scapulatus) roosting together in Nitmiluk National Park, NT, Australia

by Julien NKS

#little red flying fox #flying foxes #bats #pteropus scapulatus #pteropus #Pteropodidae #chiroptera #mammalia #chordata #wildlife: australia #wildlife: oceania

Spectacled flying foxes (Pteropus conspicillatus) in Yungaburra, Queensland, Australia

by Sue Milks

#spectacled flying fox #megabats #bats #pteropus conspicillatus #pteropus #pteropodidae #chiroptera #mammalia #chordata #wildlife: australia

#2897 - Pteropus giganteus - Indian Flying-Fox

Also known as Pteropus medius, although the taxonomic nomenclature of the species has been confused for centuries, largely due to Linnaeus calling the Large Flying-Fox Vespertilio vampyrus back in the day, and various writers trying to update the binomials since then.

One of the largest bats in the world, with a 1.5m wingspan. Giganteus is well-earned.

Found across the Indian Subcontinent, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Tibet, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Its relationship with humans is complicated - variously culled as fruit-stealing vermin, treated as sacred, hunted for food or as medicine, and as a vector of Nipah Virus where they contaminate date palm sap that is being collected to drink.

Sexually mature after 18-24 months. After a gestation period of 140-150 days, the mother will carry the pup for the first few weeks of life, with weaning after about 5 months. Young bats learn to fly around 11 weeks of age. Enthusiastic providers of oral sex for females and males of their species. Good for them.

Kerala, India.

#Pteropus #flying fox #indian bat #Pteropidae #Kerala #flying-fox