Pteropodidae, from Greek πτερόν (pterón, “wing”) and Greek πούς (poús, “foot”), means “winged foot”, in reference to the fact that the members of this family have their feet connected to their wings.

Common names of members

Megabats, fruit bats, Old World fruit bats, flying foxes.

Distribution

Found in the tropics of the Old World, occurring throughout Africa, Asia, Australia, and throughout the islands of the Indian Ocean and Oceania.

Size

They weigh up to 1.6 kg and have wingspans reaching up to 1.7 m.

Morphology

They have dog-like faces and ears and claws on the second digit.They are usually gray, brown, orange or black in color, with some exceptions.

Habitat & Ecology

Rainforests, shrublands, savannahs and other tropical environments. Trees serve as roosting places.

Diet

Most of them are primarily frugivorous. Throughout the family, a diverse array of fruit is consumed from nearly 188 plant genera. Some species are also nectarivorous, meaning that they also drink nectar from flowers.

Reproduction 

Most bat species are polygynous, where one male mates with multiple females, but there are polygynandry systems too, where multiple males mate with multiple females. Females are responsible for most of the parenting care. Males responsible for feeding and protecting young. Newborn bats cannot fly so they stay in the dwell or climb on their mothers. Usually they can fly after 2-4 weeks.

Total species known

197

Species in the collection

2

Species in Hong Kong

2

References

Fenton, M. B., Simmons, N. B. (2015). Bats - A World of Science and Mystery. The University of Chicago Press.

Vaughan, T.A., Ryan, J. M., Czaplewski, N. J. (2000). Mammalogy. Saunders College Publishing.

Macdonald, D. W. (2006). The Encyclopedia of mammals. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780199206087.001.0001.

Dumont, E. R., O'Neal, R. (2004). Food Hardness and Feeding Behavior in Old World Fruit Bats (Pteropodidae). Journal of Mammalogy, 85(1), 8–14, https://doi.org/10.1644/BOS-107. 

Yin, Q., Zhu, L., Liu, D., Irwin, D. M., Zhang, S., Pan, Y. (2016). Molecular Evolution of the Nuclear Factor (Erythroid-Derived 2)-Like 2 Gene Nrf2 in Old World Fruit Bats (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae). PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0146274.