Pteropus, Brisson, 1762

Parnaby, Harry E., Ingleby, Sandy & Divljan, Anja, 2017, Type Specimens of Non-fossil Mammals in the Australian Museum, Sydney, Records of the Australian Museum 69 (5), pp. 277-420 : 406

Pteropus ( Epomops ?) epularius Ramsay, 1877a

Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. (ser. 1) 2(1): 8. (July 1877).

Common name. Big-eared Flying-fox.

Current name. Pteropus macrotis epularius Ramsay, 1877a ; following Simmons (2005).

Syntypes. According to the original description the syntype series should include at least four adults, with skulls extracted, collected by George Masters, during the 1875 Chevert Expedition. Stanbury (1969) lists Macleay Museum number M235, male, as “?paratype” mounted or stuffed, from Katow, PNG collected during the Chevert expedition, which is surely a syntype .

Type locality. Katow = Katau [old name for Mawatta], on Binaturi River, southern Trans-Fly, Western Province, Papua New Guinea.

Comments. Ramsay did not indicate the total number of specimens in the type series but in a footnote he indicated that four skulls were examined, all apparently adult animals, and that his description is based on both male and female specimens. He does not cite field numbers, and registration numbers were not used at that time either at the AM or Macleay’s collection. Andersen (1912: 395) indicated that “cotypes” were in the Australian Museum (a mistake for Macleay Museum?) .