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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.
Mitochondrial analysis was conducted on multiple fruit bats following the Ebola viruses outbreak in 2014 and one of the bat species testing positive for the virus was M. pusillus. [15] With M. pusillus being highly frugivorous, human contact in greatly increased in agricultural regions of Africa, increasing the risk for virus transmission.
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.
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]
The Egyptian fruit bat has several avian predators, including hawks, owls, and falcons, specifically the lanner falcon. A mammalian predator is the genet. [3] External parasites (ectoparasites) of the Egyptian fruit bat include parasitic mites like Spinturnix lateralis, Liponyssus, and several Ancystropus species.
It can reach 350 g (12 oz) in weight and has a wingspan of 90 cm (35 in). At night, the bats forage in dry woodland for fruit of various trees, such as tamarinds, rose-apples, mangoes, palms, and figs. Like many other fruit bats, they squeeze out the juices and soft pulp, rarely swallowing the harder parts.
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).
Andersen's naked-backed fruit bat (Dobsonia anderseni) [14] Beaufort's naked-backed fruit bat (Dobsonia beauforti) [15] Negros naked-backed fruit bat (Dobsonia chapmani) [16] Halmahera naked-backed fruit bat (Dobsonia crenulata) [17] Biak naked-backed fruit bat (Dobsonia emersa) [18] Sulawesi naked-backed fruit bat (Dobsonia exoleta)