NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Big-eared Flying Fox
Pteropus macrotis Peters, 1867
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The big-eared flying fox (Pteropus macrotis) is a species of bat in the family Pteropodidae, larger bats who subsist largely on fruits. The species is distributed across a range in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and islands nearing the Cape York Peninsula at the northeast of Australia, at elevations less than 500 metres and often in coastal mangroves.
Wikipedia contributors, Big-eared flying fox; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:35:03.002425+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Pteropus macrotis Peters, 1867
- Name authority
- Peters, 1867
- Common name
- Big-eared Flying Fox
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Chiroptera
- Family
- Pteropodidae
- Genus
- Pteropus
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderChiroptera Blumenbach, 1779
- suborderYinpterochiroptera Springer, Teeling, Madsen, Stanhope & Jong, 2001
- familyPteropodidae Gray, 1821
- subfamilyPteropodinae Gray, 1821
- tribePteropodini Gray, 1821
- genusPteropus Brisson, 1762
- speciesPteropus macrotis Peters, 1867
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Pteropus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Admiralty Flying FoxPteropus admiralitatum Thomas, 1894 | PteropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Aldabra Flying FoxPteropus aldabrensis True, 1893 | PteropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| North Moluccan Flying FoxPteropus caniceps Gray, 1870 | PteropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bismark Masked Flying FoxPteropus capistratus Peters, 1876 | PteropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Moluccan Flying FoxPteropus chrysoproctus Temminck, 1837 | PteropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Makira Flying FoxPteropus cognatus K. Andersen, 1908 | PteropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Spectacled Flying FoxPteropus conspicillatus Gould, 1850 | PteropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Large Samoan Flying FoxPteropus coxi Helgen, Helgen & Wilson, 2009 | PteropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
| Gilliard's Flying FoxPteropus gilliardorum Van Deusen, 1969 | PteropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ontong Java Flying FoxPteropus howensis Troughton, 1931 | PteropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Island Flying FoxPteropus hypomelanus Temminck, 1853 | PteropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Kai Flying FoxPteropus keyensis Peters, 1867 | PteropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
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.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=631638 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:4Q32P. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.