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NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Insular Flying Fox

Pteropus tonganus Quoy & Gaimard, 1830

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 insular flying fox or Pacific flying fox (Pteropus tonganus) is a species of flying fox in the family Pteropodidae. It is geographically widespread, the most widespread flying fox in the Pacific: it is found in American Samoa, the Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa (where it is called pe'a fanua, pe'a fai and taulaga), the Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu.

Wikipedia contributors, Insular flying fox; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:12:12.499739+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Pteropus tonganus Quoy & Gaimard, 1830
Name authority
Quoy & Gaimard, 1830
Common name
Insular 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 tonganus Quoy & Gaimard, 1830

Close classified relatives

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

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Admiralty Flying FoxPteropus admiralitatum Thomas, 1894PteropodidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Aldabra Flying FoxPteropus aldabrensis True, 1893PteropodidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
North Moluccan Flying FoxPteropus caniceps Gray, 1870PteropodidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Bismark Masked Flying FoxPteropus capistratus Peters, 1876PteropodidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Moluccan Flying FoxPteropus chrysoproctus Temminck, 1837PteropodidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Makira Flying FoxPteropus cognatus K. Andersen, 1908PteropodidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Spectacled Flying FoxPteropus conspicillatus Gould, 1850PteropodidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Large Samoan Flying FoxPteropus coxi Helgen, Helgen & Wilson, 2009PteropodidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extinct
Gilliard's Flying FoxPteropus gilliardorum Van Deusen, 1969PteropodidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Ontong Java Flying FoxPteropus howensis Troughton, 1931PteropodidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Island Flying FoxPteropus hypomelanus Temminck, 1853PteropodidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Kai Flying FoxPteropus keyensis Peters, 1867PteropodidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant

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.

Australia

Oceania

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=552468 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:4Q347. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.