Flying Fox

Pteropus (suborder Yinpterochiroptera) is a megabat genus that includes some of the world's largest bats. Fruit bats, flying foxes, and other nicknames are used to describe them. They can be found in South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Africa, Australia, and several Indian and Pacific Oceanic islands. In the genus, there have been at least 60 species.

[Image will be Uploaded Soon]

Flying foxes eat fruit as well as other plant debris, as well as insects on occasion. They use their acute sense of smell to discover supplies. The majority, but not all, of them are nocturnal. Because they can't echolocate, they have to rely on their eyesight to travel. They live long lives and produce few progeny, with most species' females having only one offspring each year. Overhunting, culling, and natural calamities are all dangers to their populations due to their slow life history. Overhunting has wiped off six species of flying fox in contemporary times. Flying foxes are frequently hunted for their actual or suspected role in crop damage. They benefit the environment by assisting in forest regeneration through seed dissemination. By pollinating plants, they help ecosystems and human interests.

Flying foxes, like most of the other bats, are a source of infection for people, as they are the carriers of uncommon but deadly disease agents such as the Australian bat lyssavirus, which causes rabies, and the Hendra virus, which has caused seven documented human deaths. Flying foxes also spread the Nipah virus, which affects a larger number of individuals and has resulted in over 100 deaths. They have an important role in indigenous people's culture, appearing in traditional art, folklore, and armament. In the past, their fur and teeth were used as payment. Teeth are still used as payment in certain cultures today.

Description

External Characteristics

The bodyweight of flying fox species varies, varying from 120–1,600 g (0.26–3.53 lb). Males are typically larger than females in all species. Although the great flying fox does have the longest forearm length and recorded wingspan of any bat species, several bat species weigh more. It has a wingspan of up to 1.5 metres (4 feet 11 inches) and therefore can weigh up to 1.1 kilogrammes (212 pounds). The Indian and great flying foxes are bigger, weighing 1.6 and 1.45 kilogrammes (312 and 314 pounds, respectively). The only bat with a similar size outside of this species is the big golden-crowned flying fox.

The majority of flying fox species are much smaller, weighing less than 600 grammes on average (21 oz). Masked, Guam, Temminck's, and miniature flying foxes are among the smaller species, weighing less than 170 g. The underfur is dense and the pelage is lengthy and silky. Individuals in several species have a contrasting fur colour "mantle" on the back of their heads, shoulders, and upper back. They don't have tails. Because of their short ears and wide eyes, they have the appearance of a miniature fox, hence the common name "flying fox." Females have a single pair of mammae in the chest area. They don't have tragi and their ears appear long and peaked at the tip. Each ear's outer border forms an unbroken ring. The claws on the toes are sharp and curled. Microbats have only one claw on each thumb of their forelimbs, but flying foxes have two claws across each index finger.

Skull and Dentition

Pteropus species have 24 bones in their skulls: seven in the snout, sixteen in the cranium, and single in the mandible. It features a bulbous and massive braincase. Flying foxes, as with all mammals, possess three middle ear ossicles that help carry sound to the brain. After birth, the skulls of flying foxes continue developing. Young flying foxes possess short snouts compared to adults; as they mature, the maxilla lengthens, accumulating bone between the zygomatic processes and the canine teeth.

Puppies of the grey-headed flying fox are produced with several milk teeth already erupted: canines and incisors, according to their development.

All milk teeth have erupted by 9 days old, with a dental formula of 2.1.2.02.1.2.0and a cumulative of 20 teeth. All milk teeth had already fallen out and have been substituted by permanent teeth by the time the child is 140 days old (4.6 months). Canines are normally replaced first, then premolars, incisors, and finally molars. For a total of 34 teeth, the adult dental formula is 2.1.3.22.1.3.3. The occlusal surface of the molars is plain in general, however, there are longitudinal furrows.

Internal Systems

Flying foxes have huge hearts and a high heart rate, with resting heart rates ranging from 100 to 400 beats per minute.

The digestive systems of flying foxes are basic, and the interval between ingestion and emission can be as little as 12 minutes. They don't have a cecum or an appendix. The cardiac and fundic areas of the stomach are distinct.

Intelligence

Megabats, which include flying foxes, have the highest encephalization quotient (brain size compared to body size) of any bat family, with a value of 1.20. This is the same as the value of domestic dogs. Flying foxes exhibit actions that suggest they rely on long-term memory storage. Despite their extensive migrations and annual coverage of thousands of square kilometres, they are able to constantly identify the same resource patches and roosts. In a method known as trap-lining, they will return to these resource patches on a regular basis. They could also be educated to execute activities, as evidenced by research in which spectacled flying foxes were taught to pull a lever utilizing juice as a reward. Individuals who had trained to pull the lever to get juice 3.5 years later still did so in follow-up research. 

Senses

Smell- The sense of smell is extremely important to flying foxes. To process scents, they have big olfactory bulbs. They utilise scent to find food, mothers to find their puppies, and partners to find one another. On their shoulders, males have increased androgen-sensitive sebaceous glands that they can use to scent-mark their territory, especially throughout mating season. The secretions of such glands differ by species; none of the 65 chemical compounds identified from the glands of four different species was detected in all of them. Males also participate in "urine washing," which entails coating themselves in urine.

Sight- Flying foxes do not use echolocation to navigate and instead rely on sight. Binocular vision is provided by their enormous eyes, which are placed on the front of their heads. They seem to be dichromatic, like other animals but not primates. They possess both rods and cones, with "blue" cones for short-wavelength light and "green" cones for medium-to-long-wavelength light. Rods, on the other hand, vastly outnumber cones, with cones accounting for only 0.5 percent of photoreceptors. Flying foxes have evolved to sight in low-light environments.

Reproduction and Life Cycle

Many flying fox species are polygynandrous, which means that each individual will mate with numerous others. Since it is monogamous, the Samoa flying fox is a unique exception. Oral sex, in contrast to intercourse, has been seen in flying foxes, involving fellatio and cunnilingus amongst opposite sexes, and also homosexual fellatio in at minimum 1 species, the Bonin flying fox. In colder regions, opposite-sex oral sex is thought to encourage colony development of otherwise antagonistic males, whereas same-sex fellatio is thought to support colony formation of otherwise antagonistic males.

The gestation period of flying foxes varies by species; the average gestation period is 140–190 days (4.6–6.3 months). Females have a single pup at a time, which they call a litter. However, twins were observed in several species on rare occasions. Fraternal, identical, or superfetal twins are all possible. Puppies are born altricial and with thin fur, relying on their moms for care. Puppies are little when they are born, weighing about 12% of their mother's weight. Several genera of bats may bear pups that reach up to 30% of their mothers' weight at birth. They stick to their mothers' abdomens using their thumb claws and teeth, clutching her fur with their teeth and claws; females hold the pups during the first few weeks of their lives. After that, the females might leave the pups at the roost so they can go foraging at night.

Males don't really aid females in parental care, as they do in almost all bat species. Although male Bismarck masked flying foxes may lactate, it's disputed whether the lactation is effective and males really milk pups or if it's a sign of pressure or hunger. Puppies fledge at 3 months, however, they might not even be weaned until 4–6 months. Puppies are allowed to stay with their moms until they reach the age of one. Flying foxes are not sexually mature until they are 1.5–2 years old. Females could have up to 2 litters per year, though because of the extended weaning process, one is typical. The Mariana fruit bat appears to exhibit aseasonal breeding with new pups observed throughout the year, although most flying foxes are seasonal breeders and bear children in the spring. For at minimum the first 12 or 13 years of life, females are fertile and have no decline in reproductive capacity.

Diet and Foraging

Flying foxes eat between 25 and 35 percent of their body weight every day. They are generalists who will eat a wide range of foods to suit their nutritional requirements. Fruit, nectar, flowers, and leaves are all edible. They will also eat insects like cicadas on occasion. Melaleuca and Banksia flowers are favoured sources of food in Australia, preceded by eucalypt blossoms and pollen. They also eat a wide range of crops, leading farmers to have disagreements. Sisal, banana, areca, pineapple, guava, jackfruit, cashew, breadfruit, neem, citrus, fig, mango, sugar cane, tamarind, avocado, grapes, papaya, and other crops are consumed by flying foxes. Flying foxes should eat two-thirds of hard fruits such as pears and apples and one-third of soft fruits when kept in captivity. Flying foxes are not suited to high-fiber diets, so bananas, as well as other high-fibre fruits, must only be fed on rare occasions. For captive flying foxes, protein supplements are indicated; other supplements like calcium, vitamin C, chondroitin sulphate, and glucosamine could be prescribed on a regular basis.

Most flying fox species are primarily nocturnal, which means they hunt at night. Furthermore, a few island species and subspecies appear diurnal, possibly as a result of a lack of predators. P. melanotus natalis, the Caroline flying fox, the Mauritian flying fox, P. p. insularis, and the Seychelles fruit bat are among the diurnal taxa. Individuals may actually travel to 40–60 km (25–37 mi) to seek foraging resources, which are generally located far from roosts. Flying foxes could travel upto 6 m/s for up to three hours or above and also can reach high speeds of 8.6 m/s. When resources are plentiful, certain colonial animals will forage in groups. Species that are less sociable will forage on their own. When they arrive on a tree containing food, they would grab the limb with their clawed hind feet and pull branches containing flowers or fruits onto them with their clawed thumbs. Flying foxes will squeeze the fruit against the palate with their tongues as they seek fruit, squeezing out and consuming the fluids. The remaining fruit is subsequently thrown away in "ejecta pellets."

Indian Flying Fox

The bigger Indian fruit bat, often called the Indian flying fox (Pteropus medius), is a species of flying fox native to India. It is among the world's largest bats. It's interesting as a disease vector because it can transmit a variety of viruses to people. It is nocturnal and eats ripe fruits like bananas and mangoes, as well as nectar. Because of its destructive tendencies toward fruit farms, this species is commonly recognized as vermin, yet the advantages of pollination and seed propagation frequently outweigh the negative effects of its fruit-eating.

[Image will be Uploaded Soon]

Diet

The Indian flying fox is nectarivorous or frugivorous, meaning it eats fruits or drinks floral nectar. It goes hunting for ripe fruit at dusk. It is a generalist eater who consumes any fruit that is offered. Ingested fruit seeds are scarified in the digestive tract and distributed in the faeces. It is used for seed propagation by 300 plant species belonging to roughly 200 genera, with India producing over 500 economically significant goods. The banyan tree, a keystone species in Indian ecosystems, accounts for over 70% of the seeds in Indian flying fox guano.

Although it was assumed to be entirely frugivorous at first, it has been recorded eating insects and leaves on purpose.

Behavior

Thousands of bats congregate in the treetops of huge trees where the Indian flying fox roosts communally. Roosts are typically utilised for up to ten years and are occupied year-round instead of seasonally. Bats squabble and chatter frequently within the roost, and throughout sunny hours of the day, bats spread their wings and call, while during cloudy periods, bats remain silent and wrap their wings across the bodies. Throughout the day, several bats fly across the roost, but the majority of their activity occurs at night when they depart the roost one by one 20–30 minutes following sunset.

Giant Flying Fox

The golden-capped fruit bat, commonly termed as the big golden-crowned flying fox, is an endemic megabat to the Philippines. Three subspecies of the enormous golden-crowned flying fox were being identified ever since its introduction in 1831, and one of those is extinct. The Panay golden-crowned flying fox (A. jubatus lucifer), an extinct subspecies, was once considered a complete species. This species was once classified as part of the Pteropus genus; however it is no longer classified as such, it has many morphological characteristics with Pteropus megabats. Just the Indian and giant flying fox may weigh more than 1.4 kg (3.1 lb), making it one of the world's largest bat species. With a forearm length of 215 mm, it has the largest known forearm length of any bat species (8.5 in). 

[Image will be Uploaded Soon]

It is predominantly a frugivore, eating a variety of figs. Its diet, however, contains certain leaves. It scavenges at night and sleeps on tree roosts throughout the day. Thousands of animals can congregate in these roosts, which frequently include another species, the huge flying fox. Its reproduction is unknown; it gives rise once a year, from April to June, with females carrying a single pup at a time. Raptors like eagles, the reticulated python, and humans are among the big golden-crowned flying fox's predators.

It is an endangered animal as a result of deforestation and bushmeat poaching. Despite the fact that hunting and trafficking of this species are forbidden under national and international law, such rules are not strictly implemented, resulting in the species being killed on a regular basis. Also in roosts which are more rigorously safeguarded from poaching, human disturbance occurs due to tourists who purposefully disrupt them throughout the day.

Reproduction: The enormous golden-crowned flying fox's mating and reproduction are unknown. The litter size is one person, and females are unlikely to have more than one litter per year. Females might only give birth once per year, according to some theories. Females might not always reach sexual maturity until they are two years old, according to limited observation. Females on Negros Island led to the birth in April or May; depending on earlier data, females throughout its range are anticipated to give birth throughout this time. Babies were born on the island of Maripipi in late May and June.

Large Flying Fox

The great flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus, originally Pteropus giganteus) is a Southeast Asian megabat commonly known as the huge fruit bat, greater flying fox, Malaysian flying fox, Malayan flying fox, kalang, or kalong. It, as the other flying foxes in the genus Pteropus, relies primarily on nectar, fruits, and flowers, unlike its scientific name. It is among the biggest bats on the planet. It lacks the capacity to echolocate, as do almost every other Old World fruit bat, yet substitutes for this with well-developed eyesight. From the Malay Peninsula to the Philippines in the east, and the Indonesian Archipelago of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Timor in the south, the giant flying fox can be found. The bat favours coastal habitats in some areas, however it could also be seen at elevations of up to 1,370 metres (4,490 ft).

[Image will be Uploaded Soon]

Primary forest, coconut groves, mangrove forest, mixed fruit orchards, and a variety of other ecosystems are all home to flying foxes. Trees in mangrove forests and coconut groves can be used as roosts throughout the day. Large flying fox prefers lowland areas below 365 metres in Malaysia. They live along the coast in Borneo but migrate to neighbouring islands to eat fruit. Thousands of flying foxes roost (maximum). In a mangrove forest in Timor, a single colony of roughly 2,000 individuals was discovered, and colonies of 10,000–20,000 were also reported. In comparison to lowland roost sites, mangrove roosts had fewer resting bats, suggesting that mangrove forests are only utilised momentarily.