Pteropus melanopogon, Peters, 1867

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Pteropodidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 16-162 : 161-162

189.

Black-bearded Flying Fox

Pteropus melanopogon

French: Roussette a barbe noire / German: Schwarzbart-Flughund / Spanish: Zorro volador de barba negra

Taxonomy. Pteropus melanopogon Peters, 1867 ,

“Amboina [= Ambon Island]? Maluku Islands, Indonesia.

Pteropus melanopogon is in the melanopogon species group and previously included aruensis and keyensis as subspecies. Monotypic.

Distribution. C Moluccas Is (Buru, Ambon, Seram, and their adjacentislands).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 290 mm (tailless), ear 23-30 mm, hindfoot 47 mm, forearm 188-205 mm; weight 860-900 g. Greatest lengths of skulls are 78-90 mm and tibias 83-85 mm. Ears of the Black-bearded Flying Fox are of moderate length, with rounded tips. Head is brown on sides, with orange-chestnut to golden orange buffy crown extending between ears onto forehead. Bases of most hairs are golden. Fur is generally short, thinly scattered on upperside of forearm in front of elbow and missing from above and beneath forearm,tibia, and sides of uropatagium. Mantle is chestnutorange, back is blackish, chest is golden orange, and belly is buffy. Uropatagium is reduced; calcar is small. Wing membranes on back arise much closer (c. 10 mm apart) along spine. Skull is typical pteropine but extremely heavy and robust, with large orbits, crests, and postorbital processes. Rostrum and palate are deep and broad and do not taper rostrally. Dental formula can have 34 or 32 teeth as P' is deciduous. Dentition is heavy, with well-defined but narrow cingulum in upper and lower canines. C,is recurved. Caninesare slightly larger in males. P|is slightly smaller than M* and slightly larger than M,. M' is 1-5 times longer than wide.

Habitat. Likely old growth forests and recently mangrove forests on small offshore island. Small groups of Black-bearded Flying Foxes occur in forest fragments near human settlements.

Food and Feeding. Large, flattened molars of most available specimens of Black-bearded Flying Foxes suggest a heavily frugivorous diet. There is anecdotal evidence from Seram of feeding on abundant durian ( Durio sp. , Malvaceae ) flowers.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. The Black-bearded Flying Fox is nocturnal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. The Black-bearded Flying Fox is generally gregarious and roosts colonially in forested areas with minimal disturbance. A colony of ¢.200 individuals was found in an unprotected mangrove forest, roosting with the South Moluccan Flying Fox ( P. chrysoproctus ) in separate trees. Single individuals and groups of less than ten Black-bearded Flying Foxes have been seen in temporary roosts.

Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. Past and projected population decline of the Black-bearded Flying Fox are more than 50% over three generations due to hunting and habitat loss. It is only known from fewer than ten scattered localities. Deforestation, mining, oil exploration, and agroforestry have resulted in loss of almost one-half the total forest coverage. It is not found in Manusela National Park on Seram, but itis found in an unprotected mangrove forests on offshore islands nearby and might have foraging sites in the national park. There is some community incentive to protect colonies for ecotourism, but there is no formalized protection. It is unprotected on Buru and likely extinct or restricted to a very small population on developed and deforested Ambon.

Bibliography. Andersen (1912b), Corbet & Hill (1992), Flannery (1995a), Simmons (2005), Tsang (2016l), Tsang et al. (2015).

Figures

174. Livingstone’s Flying Fox (Pteropus livingstonii), 175. Pemba Flying Fox (Pleropus voeltzkowi), 176. Ryukyu Flying Fox (Pleropus dasymallus), 177. Bonin Flying Fox (Pteropus pselaphon), 178. Little Golden-mantled Flying Fox (Pleropus pumilus), 179. Lyle’s Flying Fox (Pteropus lylei), 180. Indian Flying Fox (Pleropus medius), 181. Rodrigues Flying Fox (Pteropus rodricensus), 182. Large Flying Fox (Pteropus vampyrus), 183. Aldabra Flying Fox (Pleropus aldabrensis), 184. Malagasy Flying Fox (Pteropus rufus), 185. Seychelles Flying Fox (Pleropus seychellensis), 186. Greater Mascarene Flying Fox (Pteropus niger), 187. Aru Flying Fox (Pteropus aruensis), 188. Kai Flying Fox (Pleropus keyensis), 189. Black-bearded Flying Fox (Pleropus melanopogon), 190. South Moluccan Flying Fox (Pteropus chrysoproctus), 191. North Moluccan Flying Fox (Pteropus caniceps)

Distribution. C Moluccas Is (Buru, Ambon , Seram, and their adjacentislands).