9-1217: Pteropus (suborder Yinpterochiroptera ) is a genus of megabats which are among the largest bats in the world. They are commonly known as fruit bats or flying foxes , among other colloquial names. They live in South Asia , Southeast Asia , Australia , East Africa , and some oceanic islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. There are at least 60 extant species in the genus. Flying foxes eat fruit and other plant matter, and occasionally consume insects as well. They locate resources with their keen sense of smell. Most, but not all, are nocturnal . They navigate with keen eyesight, as they cannot echolocate . They have long life spans and low reproductive outputs , with females of most species producing only one offspring per year. Their slow life history makes their populations vulnerable to threats such as overhunting , culling , and natural disasters. Six flying fox species have been made extinct in modern times by overhunting. Flying foxes are often persecuted for their real or perceived role in damaging crops . They are ecologically beneficial by assisting in
18-604: Is a suborder of the Chiroptera , which includes taxa formerly known as megabats and five of the microbat families: Rhinopomatidae , Rhinolophidae , Hipposideridae , Craseonycteridae , and Megadermatidae . This suborder is primarily based on molecular genetics data. This proposal challenged the traditional view that megabats and microbats form monophyletic groups of bats . Further studies are being conducted, using both molecular and morphological cladistic methodology, to assess its merit. The term Yinpterochiroptera
27-518: Is also transmitted by flying foxes—it affects more people, with over 100 attributed fatalities. They have cultural significance to indigenous people, with appearances in traditional art, folklore, and weaponry. Their fur and teeth were used as currency in the past. Some cultures still use their teeth as currency today. The genus name Pteropus was coined by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1762. Prior to 1998, genus authority
36-628: Is constructed from the words Pteropodidae (the family of megabats) and Yinochiroptera (a term proposed in 1984 by Karl F. Koopman to refer to certain families of microbats ). Recent studies using transcriptome data have found strong support for the Yinpterochiroptera-Yangochiroptera classification system. Researchers have created a relaxed molecular clock that estimates the divergence between Yinpterochiroptera and Yangochiroptera around 63 million years ago. The most recent common ancestor of Yinpterochiroptera, corresponding to
45-418: The regeneration of forests via seed dispersal . They benefit ecosystems and human interests by pollinating plants. Like other bats, flying foxes are relevant to humans as a source of disease, as they are the reservoirs of rare but fatal disease agents including Australian bat lyssavirus , which causes rabies , and Hendra virus ; seven known human deaths have resulted from these two diseases. Nipah virus
54-404: The split between Rhinolophoidea and Pteropodidae (Old World Fruit bats), is estimated to have occurred 60 million years ago. The first appearance of the term Yinpterochiroptera was in 2001, in an article by Mark Springer and colleagues. As an alternative to the subordinal names Yinpterochiroptera and Yangochiroptera , some researchers use the terms Pteropodiformes and Vespertilioniformes, basing
63-1382: The type species was made by the ICZN through their plenary powers over biological nomenclature. " Pteropus " comes from Ancient Greek pterón meaning "wing" and poús meaning "foot." The phrase "flying fox" has been used to refer to Pteropus bats since at least 1759. Acerodon jubatus Acerodon celebensis P. personatus Neopteryx frosti P. macrotis P. mahaganus P. gilliardi P. woodfordi P. molossinus † P. tokudae P. pelagicus P. scapulatus P. lombocensis P. livingstonii P. voeltzkowi P. dasymallus P. pumilus P. rodricensis P. vampyrus P. lylei P. medius P. aldabrensis P. rufus P. seychellensis * P. niger * P. seychellensis * P. niger * P. pselaphon P. capistratus P. ennisae P. vetulus P. nitendiensis P. tuberculatus P. anetianus P. samoensis P. fundatus P. rayneri P. rennelli P. cognatus P. poliocephalus P. ornatus P. hypomelanus * P. griseus P. speciosus Yinpterochiroptera Craseonycteridae Hipposideridae Pteropodidae Rhinopomatidae Rhinolophidae Megadermatidae The Yinpterochiroptera (or Pteropodiformes )
72-528: Was a "rejected work" for nomenclatural purposes. Despite rejecting the majority of the publication, the ICZN decided to conserve a dozen generic names from the work and retain Brisson as authority, including Pteropus . The type species of the genus is the Mauritian flying fox , Pteropus niger (described as Vespertilio vampyrus niger by Robert Kerr in 1792). The decision to designate P. niger as
81-664: Was sometimes given to German naturalist Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben . Although the Brisson publication (1762) predated the Erxleben publication (1777), thus giving him preference under the Principle of Priority , some authors gave preference to Erxleben as genus authority because Brisson's publication did not consistently use binomial nomenclature . In 1998, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) decided that Brisson's 1762 publication
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