NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Rodrigues Flying Fox
Pteropus rodricensis Dobson, 1878
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.
Rodrigues Flying Fox (Pteropus rodricensis) (CWPG)
Vauxford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Rodrigues flying fox or Rodrigues fruit bat (Pteropus rodricensis) is a species of bat in the family Pteropodidae, the flying foxes or fruit bats. It is endemic to Rodrigues, an island in the Indian Ocean belonging to Mauritius. Its natural habitat is tropical lowland forests. The bats are sociable, roost in large groups during the day and feed at night, squeezing the juice and flesh out of fruits. They are hunted by humans for food and their numbers have been dwindling, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated the species as endangered. In an effort to preserve them from extinction, some bats have been caught and are being bred in various zoos around the world.
Wikipedia contributors, Rodrigues flying fox; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:43:35.545583+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Pteropus rodricensis Dobson, 1878
- Name authority
- Dobson, 1878
- Common name
- Rodrigues 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 rodricensis Dobson, 1878
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.
- Dobson, & George Edward. (1878). Chiroptera in the Collection of the British Museum. 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.
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:4Q33N. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.