Pteropus aruensis Peters, 1867:330
Aru flying fox
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Pteropus melanopogon aruensis Peters, 1867:330; Pteropus fumigatus Rosenberg, 1867; Pteropus rubiginosus Rosenberg, 1867
Possibly a synonym of Pteropus keyensis (Helgen, 2008).
Conservation Status
Unresolved
Last record: 1800's; 1865 (Martin et al., 2023); 1867 (Fisher & Blomberg, 2012; Lee et al., 2017)
IUCN RedList status: Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct)
A toothless jaw was also found in 1992 which has been assigned to this taxa (Ibid.), however the context is uncertain as it may be of sub-fossil age rather than contemporary. Hence, the find may not be indicative of the persistence of this species, assuming that it is valid.
Distribution
Aru Islands, Indonesia
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Toothless jaw (field number NA/36, unregistered lot at CSIRO)
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Peters. (1867). Monatsberichte der Koniglich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1867: 330.
Other references:
Bergmans, W. (2001). Notes on distribution and taxonomy of Australasian bats. 1. Pteropodinae and Nyctimeninae (Mammalia, Megachiroptera, Pteropodidae). Beaufortia 51: 119-152.
Fisher, Diana O. and Blomberg, Simon P. (2012). Inferring Extinction of Mammals from Sighting Records, Threats, and Biological Traits. Conservation Biology 26(1): 57-67. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2011.01797.x
Fisher, Diana O. and Humphreys, Aelys M. (2024). Evidence for modern extinction in plants and animals. Biological Conservation 298: 110772. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110772
Helgen, K. (2008). Pteropus aruensis. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Downloaded on 11 June 2011.
Laurie, E. M. O., and J. E. Hill. 1954. List of land mammals of New Guinea, Celebes and adjacent islands 1758-1952. British Museum (Natural History) Publications, London, 175 pp.
Lee, T. E., Fisher, D. O., Blomberg, S. P. and Wintle, B. A. (2017). Extinct or still out there? Disentangling influences on extinction and rediscovery helps to clarify the fate of species on the edge. Global Change Biology 23(2): 621-634. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13421
Martin, Thomas E., Bennett, Gareth C., Fairbairn, Andrew J. and Mooers, A. Ø. (2023). ‘Lost’ taxa and their conservation implications. Animal Conservation 26(1): 14-24. https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12788 [Appendix S2 (1617 taxa not seen >10 years); Appendix S3 (562 taxa not seen >50 years)]
Mickleburgh, Simon P., Hutson, Anthony M. and Racey, Paul A. (1992). Old World fruit bats. An action plan for their conservation. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. viii + 252 pp.
Simmons, N.B. and A.L. Cirranello. 2023. Bat Species of the World: A taxonomic and geographic database. Version 1.3. Accessed on 06/18/2023.
https://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/15937/pteropus-aruensis-aru-flying-fox