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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. [3]
Fruit bats, also known as flying foxes or megabats, are the 197 species of bats that make up the suborder Megachiroptera, found throughout the tropics of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, of which 186 are extant.
The Egyptian fruit bat is the only megabat whose range is mostly in the Palearctic realm; [113] it and the straw-colored fruit bat are the only species found in the Middle East. [113] [114] The northernmost extent of the Egyptian fruit bat's range is the northeastern Mediterranean. [113] In East Asia, megabats are found only in China and Japan.
In certain areas, the bat prefers coastal regions, but it can also be found at elevations up to 1,370 m (4,490 ft). [21] Flying foxes inhabit primary forest, mangrove forest, coconut groves, mixed fruit orchards, and a number of other habitats. [19] During the day, trees in mangrove forests and coconut groves may be used as roosts. [12]
An Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) carrying a fig. Fruit eating, or frugivory, is found in both major suborders. Bats prefer ripe fruit, pulling it off the trees with their teeth. They fly back to their roosts to eat the fruit, sucking out the juice and spitting the seeds and pulp out onto the ground.
The black flying fox or black fruit bat (Pteropus alecto) is a bat in the family Pteropodidae. It is among the largest bats in the world, but is considerably smaller than the largest species in its genus, Pteropus. The black flying fox is native to Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia. It is not a threatened species.
It is among the heaviest of all bat species, with individuals weighing up to 1.40 kg (3.1 lb). The only bat species known to weigh more than the giant golden-crowned flying fox are the Indian flying fox (Pteropus medius) and great flying fox (Pteropus neohibernicus), with a maximum weight of 1.6 kg (3.5 lb) and 1.45 kg (3.2 lb) respectively.
The straw-coloured fruit bat is the most widely distributed fruit bat in Africa, and perhaps the world. It appears mainly in Africa, mostly among the sub-Saharan climates, in many forest and savanna zones, and around the southwestern Arabian peninsula. It can also be found in urban areas and at altitudes up to 2,000 m (6,600 ft).