Great Flying Fox

Open encyclopedia reference

The great flying fox (Pteropus neohibernicus), also known as the greater flying fox or Bismarck flying fox, is a species of megabat in the genus Pteropus, found throughout lowland areas of New Guinea and in the Bismarck Archipelago. Conflicting evidence suggests that its closest relative is either the spectacled flying fox or, jointly, the Pelew and insular flying foxes. Two subspecies are recognized. At up to 1.6 kg (3.5 lb) in weight, it is among the heaviest bats in the world and the largest bat in Melanesia. It is a gregarious animal which roosts with hundreds or thousands of individuals. In part due to its wide variation in color, it has many taxonomic synonyms, including Pteropus degener, Pteropus papuanus, and Pteropus sepikensis. It may forage during the day or night in search of fruit, including figs or fruits from the family Sapotaceae. It is considered a least-concern species by the IUCN, though its numbers have been negatively impacted by what appeared to be a disease, as well as by hunting for bushmeat that occurs across its range.

Wikipedia contributors, Great flying fox; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:06:26.767146+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Pteropus neohibernicus Peters, 1876

Name authority

Peters, 1876

Common name

Great 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.

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. subfamilyPteropodinae Gray, 1821
15. tribePteropodini Gray, 1821
16. genusPteropus Brisson, 1762
17. speciesPteropus neohibernicus Peters, 1876

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Pteropus. 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=631643 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:4Q334. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.