Steadfast Tube-nosed Fruit Bat

Open encyclopedia reference

The steadfast tube-nosed fruit bat (Paranyctimene tenax) is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae found in West Papua, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.

The species was first proposed as a subgeneric arrangement of Nyctimene, published as Nyctimene (Paranyctimene) tenax. The epithet tenax, derived from the Latin for 'steadfast', was intended to describe the conservation work of Peter Nijhoff, whose retirement was announced when the new species was discovered. The subspecific epithet marculus, derived from Latin, translates as 'little hammer' and the diminutive form of Marc Argeloo's name, a dedication to his collections of bats for the Amsterdam Zoological Museum. Two subspecies were recognised by Mammal Species of the World (2005):

Paranyctimene

Paranyctimene raptor (Lesser tube-nosed fruit bat), the type, first proposed in 1942.

Paranyctimene tenax (Steadfast tube-nosed fruit bat) Bergmans, 2001

The species is larger than Paranyctimene raptor, with recorded forearm measurements of 51.0 to 54.9 millimetres, and the greatest length of the skull in a range of 25.2–27.2 mm for both subspecies.

Wikipedia contributors, Steadfast tube-nosed fruit bat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:00:20.355291+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Paranyctimene tenax (Bergmans, 2001)

Name authority

(Bergmans, 2001)

Common name

Steadfast Tube-nosed Fruit Bat

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Chiroptera

Family

Pteropodidae

Genus

Paranyctimene

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderChiroptera Blumenbach, 1779
12. suborderYinpterochiroptera Springer, Teeling, Madsen, Stanhope & Jong, 2001
13. familyPteropodidae Gray, 1821
14. subfamilyNyctimeninae Miller, 1907
15. genusParanyctimene Tate, 1942
16. speciesParanyctimene tenax (Bergmans, 2001)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Paranyctimene. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 158 records assigned to Pteropodidae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=945978 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4D6W4. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.