| The flying fox (Latin Pteropus) is from the family of bats. Flying foxes feed on the juice and pulp of fruits and flowers. They live in South and South-East Asia, New Guinea, Oceania, Australia and Madagascar. They are large in size with a length reaching up to 40 cm and with a wingspan of up to 1.5 m (Javanese Kalonga) and with a small tail. The muzzle is pointed, the ears are small and the head is like the head of a dog or a fox. There are about 58 species.
In small flying foxes, the body length ranges from 18.3 to 24 cm. The wingspan is 1.21 m, the weight of the animal ranges from 0.2 to 0.5 kg. The torso and head are covered with short hair, black on the head and back and on the stomach, golden, cream or white colored hair.
Habitat:
The small flying fox is widespread in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma, Philippines, Solomon, Maldives, Vietnam and Thailand. They are found in these areas up to an altitude of 900 m above sea level.
Small flying foxes live in communities - in colonies with up to 70 individuals. The colonies are usually located in mangroves, where the animals can rest, hanging onto the branches. This kind of flying fox can climb up to a height of 30m. The animals do not move away from their habitat. Flying foxes can go up to a maximum distance of 8 miles from their habitat.
Small flying foxes feed on fruits, green leaves, bark and flower nectar. The pregnancy in females lasts for 180 to 210 days. After birth, the little ones, "hang” onto their mothers for several months despite being capable of flying a month after birth. The life expectancy of this type of flying fox is up to 9 years.
Flying foxes (Latin: Pteropodidae) - a unique family of mammals of the suborder Megachiroptera, and the order Chiroptera (wing-handed animals). They are members of the genera Pteropus and Rousettus and sometimes the flying foxes are called "flying dogs".
Unlike regular bats, many of these flying foxes are large-sized: the body length is 42 cm and the wingspan is up to 1.7 m. However, there are small nectar and pollen feeding forms with sizes of 5-6 cm and a wingspan of 24 cm. Their weight varies from 15 to 900 gm. The tail is short, underdeveloped or may be absent; the tail is relatively long only in long-tailed flying foxes (Notopteris). The interfemoral membrane is underdeveloped in most species. The thumb has a terminal phalanx and is usually equipped with a claw.
The skull has a long face section. The eyes are large. Flying foxes rely mostly on sight and smell and the echolocation ability is found only in Rousettus egyptiacus types of flying foxes. The earflap is closed such that its edge forms a ring. Tube-nosed and dwarf tube-nosed flying foxes have characteristic tubular nostrils, which open laterally. The tongue is covered by well-developed papillae; the tongue is very long in small pollen-feeding species. Flat-tuberiferous teeth are adapted to eating plant food and the bats have teeth from 22 to 38. The intestine is 4 times longer than the body.
Most species are dark brown in colour, but can be yellowish, greenish with white spots on the wings. Sexual dimorphism is characteristic in flying bats. It manifests in males in enlarged canines and are more vivid colour, in larger sizes (eonycteris, epomops, hammer-headed bats (hypsignatus), some species of micropteropus), in the presence of glandular skin shoulder bags with hair bunches, growing from them (Rousettus, epaulette fruit bats, epomops and dwarf epaulette fruit bats, nanonycteris, D’ Anchieta’s fruit bats), and in the presence of large pharyngeal bags (epomophorus, hammerheads bats, epomops).
Distribution and lifestyle:
In contrast to flying bats, which are found everywhere, flying foxes inhabit only tropical and subtropical regions of the Eastern Hemisphere: Asia, Africa and Oceania. Flying foxes are found from West Africa to the Philippines, Samoa and Caroline Islands; in the northern area, flying foxes are found till the lower reaches of The Nile (Egypt), Syria, Iran and South Japan. Flying foxes are not found in Russia. On some islands of Oceania, before the arrival of Europeans, the native mammals were flying foxes.
Flying foxes are active at night and during dusk. During the daytime, the bats stay on the trees, under cornices of roofs, in caves, or rarely in large hollows. Flying foxes do not have a permanent nest since they migrate in search of food. Bats can go up to 15km from a resting place to the place of feeding; altogether, flying foxes can fly up to 90-100 km distance during the night. Small flying foxes are usually solitary; large flying foxes usually congregate in large groups during the day. Thus, straw-coloured flying foxes sometimes form noisy settlements consisting of up to 10 000 bats even in large cities. Some species are active during the day. While resting, flying foxes usually hang upside down, clinging onto the branches with sharp claws or the irregular surfaces of cave ceilings; sometimes, bats hang on one leg. Flying foxes cover their body with broad leathery wings like a blanket; in hot weather, they use the wings as fans. Usually, flying foxes do not go into hibernation.
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