NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Comoro Black Flying Fox
Pteropus livingstonii Gray, 1866
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
Livingstone's fruit bat (Pteropus livingstonii), also called the Comoro flying fox, is a megabat in the genus Pteropus. It is an Old World fruit bat found only in the Anjouan and Mohéli islands in the Union of the Comoros in the western Indian Ocean.
It is the largest and rarest bat of all Comorian species. Its preferred habitat is montane forest above 200 metres (660 ft) on Mohéli and above 500 metres (1,600 ft) on Anjouan, the destruction of which is a major threat to the bat population. As of 2003, the total population was estimated at 1,200 individuals. Other threats to the bats' survival include storms, hunting, and their struggles to readapt to new habitats.
The black-bearded flying fox is believed to be one of the closest relatives of Livingstone's fruit bats, but experts differ as to whether or not these species belong to the same species group. No subspecies have been recognized.
Wikipedia contributors, Livingstone's fruit bat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:33:13.338064+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Pteropus livingstonii Gray, 1866
- Name authority
- Gray, 1866
- Common name
- Comoro Black 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 livingstonii Gray, 1866
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 |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Pteropus livingstonei Gray, 1866 Gray, 1866 | synonym |
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=631635 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:78M4Z. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.