Fijian monkey-faced bat

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Fijian monkey-faced bat - Wikipedia

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Fijian monkey-faced bat

Male near the summit of Des Vœux Peak in Taveuni, Fiji. This individual bat is the holotype of the species.
Conservation status
Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1)^[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Chiroptera
Family:	Pteropodidae
Genus:	Mirimiri Helgen, 2005
Species:	M. acrodonta
Binomial name
*Mirimiri acrodonta* (Hill & Beckon, 1978)

Fijian monkey-faced bat range
Synonyms
Pteralopex acrodonta

The Fijian monkey-faced bat (Mirimiri acrodonta), also known as the Fijian flying fox or Fijian flying monkey, is a megabat endemic to Fiji. It was discovered in old-growth cloud forest on Des Vœux Peak, the second highest mountain peak (1,195 m; 3,921 ft) on the island of Taveuni by William and Ruth Beckon in 1976,^[2] and is Fiji's only endemic mammal.^[3] It has recently been transferred from Pteralopex to its own monotypic genus Mirimiri.^[4]

Taxonomy

When initially encountered, this species was placed in the genus Pteralopex (the "monkey-faced bats"). All other members of the genus are found in the Solomon Islands. However, genetics research indicates significant genetic divergence between this species and Pteralopex.^[4] Because it is no longer classified in the genus Pteralopex, some now refer to it as the Fijian flying fox rather than the Fijian monkey-faced bat.^[5]

Description

These bats weigh 222–362 grams (0.5–0.8 lb). Their forearms are 120 millimetres (4.7 in) long. Their fur is uniformly tan and thick, sometimes hiding their ears. Their eyes are distinctly orange, which helps distinguish this species from other Fijian megabats.^[5] Their wings attach to their bodies closer to the spine as opposed to lateral attachment. They lack tails.^[4]

Biology and ecology

These bats are difficult to capture and few in number, so little is known about their biology. They appear to shelter in clumps of epiphytic plants that live in the cloud forest canopy. A pregnant individual was once encountered in May.^[6] In different years, lactating females have been observed in May. Based on the morphology of their teeth, it is thought that they eat tough plants.^[5]

Distribution and habitat

The Fijian monkey-faced bat is found only on the third-largest island of Fiji, Taveuni. It is only found within the montane forests of the island. It is possible that this species might also be found on the island of Vanua Levu, but these observations have not been corroborated.^[7] It is the only megabat that is endemic to Fiji.^[8]

Conservation

Only six individuals of this species have ever been observed. While its cloud forest is within Taveuni Forest Reserve, this does little to protect the land, as the majority of Fiji's Forest Reserves have been converted to mahogany plantations.^[5] It is listed as a critically endangered species due to habitat loss. The population size is estimated at less than 1,000 individuals.^[1] Due to its imperiled status, it is identified by the Alliance for Zero Extinction as a species in danger of imminent extinction.^[9] In 2013, Bat Conservation International listed this species as one of the 35 species of its worldwide priority list of conservation.^[10] Their habitat is being lost and fragmented by pollution, agriculture, extreme weather, and urbanization. Climate change is anticipated to shrink cloud forests worldwide, resulting in further habitat loss.^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b Scanlon, A. (2019). "Mirimiri acrodonta". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T18655A22071017. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T18655A22071017.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
^ Hill, J. E.; Beckon, W. N. (1976). "A new species of Pteralopex Thomas, 1888 (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) from the Fiji Islands" (PDF). Bull. Br. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Zool. 34 (2): 65–82.
^ "Kula Ecopark". Archived from the original on 2007-09-19. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
^ ^a ^b ^c Helgen, K. M. (2005). "Systematics of the Pacific monkey-faced bats (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae), with a new species of Pteralopex and a new Fijian genus". Systematics and Biodiversity. 3 (4): 433–453. doi:10.1017/S1477200005001702.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Scanlon, A. T., & Petit, S. (2016). Capture success of Fijian bats (Pteropodidae) and their evaluation as umbrella species for conservation. Pacific Conservation Biology, 21(4), 315-326.
^ ^a ^b Scanlon, A., Petit, S., & Bottroff, G. (2014). The conservation status of bats in Fiji. Oryx, 48(3), 451-459.
^ Palmeirim, J. M., Champion, A., Naikatini, A., Niukula, J., Tuiwawa, M., Fisher, M., ... & Dunn, T. (2007). Distribution, status and conservation of the bats of the Fiji Islands. ORYX-LONDON-, 41(4), 509.
^ Scanlon, A. (2009). The Long-tailed Flying-fox (Notopteris macdonaldi): Viti Levu, Fiji (Doctoral dissertation, Australasian Bat Society).
^ "A Five-Year Plan for Global Bat Conservation" (PDF). batcon.org. Bat Conservation International. October 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 17, 2018. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
^ "Annual Report 2013-2014" (PDF). batcon.org. Bat Conservation International. August 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 7, 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2017.

Extant species of family Pteropodidae

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Eutheria
Superorder: Laurasiatheria
Order: Chiroptera

Subfamily Nyctimeninae

Nyctimene
(tube-nosed fruit bats)

Paranyctimene

Subfamily Cynopterinae

Aethalops (Pygmy fruit bats)	Borneo fruit bat (A. aequalis) Pygmy fruit bat (A. alecto)
Alionycteris	Mindanao pygmy fruit bat (A. paucidentata)
Balionycteris	Spotted-winged fruit bat (B. maculata) Balionycteris seimundi
Chironax	Black-capped fruit bat (C. melanocephalus)
Cynopterus (Dog-faced fruit bats)	Lesser short-nosed fruit bat (C. brachyotis) Horsfield's fruit bat (C. horsfieldii) Peters's fruit bat (C. luzoniensis) Minute fruit bat (C. minutus) Nusatenggara short-nosed fruit bat (C. nusatenggara) Greater short-nosed fruit bat (C. sphinx) Indonesian short-nosed fruit bat (C. titthaecheilus)
Dyacopterus (Dayak fruit bats)	Brooks's dyak fruit bat (D. brooksi) Rickart's dyak fruit bat (D. rickarti) Dayak fruit bat (D. spadiceus)
Haplonycteris	Fischer's pygmy fruit bat (H. fischeri)
Latidens	Salim Ali's fruit bat (L. salimalii)
Megaerops	Tailless fruit bat (M. ecaudatus) Javan tailless fruit bat (M. kusnotoi) Ratanaworabhan's fruit bat (M. niphanae) White-collared fruit bat (M. wetmorei)
Otopteropus	Luzon fruit bat (O. cartilagonodus)
Penthetor	Dusky fruit bat (P. lucasi)
Ptenochirus (Musky fruit bats)	Greater musky fruit bat (P. jagori) Lesser musky fruit bat (P. minor)
Sphaerias	Blanford's fruit bat (S. blanfordi)
Thoopterus	Swift fruit bat (T. nigrescens) T. suhaniahae

Subfamily Harpyionycterinae

Aproteles	Bulmer's fruit bat (A. bulmerae)
Dobsonia (Bare-backed fruit bats)	Andersen's naked-backed fruit bat (D. anderseni) Beaufort's naked-backed fruit bat (D. beauforti) Philippine naked-backed fruit bat (D. chapmani) Halmahera naked-backed fruit bat (D. crenulata) Biak naked-backed fruit bat (D. emersa) Sulawesi naked-backed fruit bat (D. exoleta) Solomon's naked-backed fruit bat (D. inermis) Lesser naked-backed fruit bat (D. minor) Moluccan naked-backed fruit bat (D. moluccensis) Panniet naked-backed fruit bat (D. pannietensis) Western naked-backed fruit bat (D. peronii) New Britain naked-backed fruit bat (D. praedatrix) Greenish naked-backed fruit bat (D. viridis)
Harpyionycteris	Sulawesi harpy fruit bat (H. celebensis) Harpy fruit bat (H. whiteheadi)

Subfamily Macroglossinae

Macroglossus (Long-tongued fruit bats)	Long-tongued nectar bat (M. minimus) Long-tongued fruit bat (M. sobrinus)
Melonycteris	Fardoulis's blossom bat (M. fardoulisi) Black-bellied fruit bat (M. melanops) Woodford's fruit bat (M. woodfordi)
Notopteris (Long-tailed fruit bats)	Long-tailed fruit bat (N. macdonaldi) New Caledonia blossom bat (N. neocaledonica)
Syconycteris (blossom bats)	Common blossom bat (S. australis) Halmahera blossom bat (S. carolinae) Moss-forest blossom bat (S. hobbit)

Subfamily Pteropodinae

Acerodon	Sulawesi flying fox (A. celebensis) Talaud flying fox (A. humilis) Giant golden-crowned flying fox (A. jubatus) Palawan fruit bat (A. leucotis) Sunda flying fox (A. mackloti)
Desmalopex	White-winged flying fox (D. leucopterus) Small white-winged flying fox (D. microleucopterus)
Eidolon (Straw-coloured fruit bats)	Madagascan fruit bat (E. dupreanum) Straw-coloured fruit bat (E. helvum)
Mirimiri	Fijian monkey-faced Bat (M. acrodonta)
Neopteryx	Small-toothed fruit bat (N. frosti)
Pteralopex	Bougainville monkey-faced Bat (P. anceps) Guadalcanal monkey-faced Bat (P. atrata) Greater monkey-faced Bat (P. flanneryi) Montane monkey-faced Bat (P. pulchra) New Georgian monkey-faced Bat (P. taki)
Pteropus (flying foxes)	Admiralty flying fox (P. admiralitatum) Aldabra flying fox (P. aldabrensis) Black flying fox (P. alecto) Small Samoan flying fox (P. allenorum) Vanuatu flying fox (P. anetianus) Aru flying fox (P. aruensis) Ashy-headed flying fox (P. caniceps) Bismarck masked flying fox (P. capistratus) Moluccan flying fox (P. chrysoproctus) Makira flying fox (P. cognatus) Spectacled flying fox (P. conspicillatus) Large Samoan flying fox (P. coxi) Ryukyu flying fox (P. dasymallus) New Ireland masked flying fox (P. ennisae) Nicobar flying fox (P. faunulus) Banks flying fox (P. fundatus) Gilliard's flying fox (P. gilliardorum) Gray flying fox (P. griseus) Ontong Java flying fox (P. howensis) Small flying fox (P. hypomelanus) Andersen's flying fox (P. intermedius) Kei flying fox (P. keyensis) Livingstone's fruit bat (P. livingstonii) Lombok flying fox (P. lombocensis) Okinawa flying fox (P. loochoensis) Lyle's flying fox (P. lylei) Big-eared flying fox (P. macrotis) Lesser flying fox (P. mahaganus) Mariana fruit bat (P. mariannus) Indian flying fox (P. medius) Black-bearded flying fox (P. melanopogon) Black-eared flying fox (P. melanotus) Caroline flying fox (P. molossinus) Great flying fox (P. neohibernicus) Mauritian flying fox (P. niger) Temotu flying fox (P. nitendiensis) Ceram fruit bat (P. ocularis) Ornate flying fox (P. ornatus) P. pelagicus Pelew flying fox (P. pelewensis) Masked flying fox (P. personatus) Geelvink Bay flying fox (P. pohlei) Grey-headed flying fox (P. poliocephalus) Bonin flying fox (P. pselaphon) Little golden-mantled flying fox (P. pumilus) Solomons flying fox (P. rayneri) Rennell flying fox (P. rennelli) Rodrigues flying fox (P. rodricensis) Madagascan flying fox (P. rufus) Samoa flying fox (P. samoensis) Little red flying fox (P. scapulatus) Seychelles fruit bat (P. seychellensis) Philippine gray flying fox (P. speciosus) Temminck's flying fox (P. temminckii) Insular flying fox (P. tonganus) Vanikoro flying fox (P. tuberculatus) Kosrae flying fox (P. ualanus) Large flying fox (P. vampyrus) New Caledonia flying fox (P. vetulus) Pemba flying fox (P. voeltzkowi) Dwarf flying fox (P. woodfordi)
Styloctenium	Mindoro stripe-faced fruit bat (S. mindorensis) Sulawesi stripe-faced fruit bat (S. wallacei)

Subfamily Rousettinae

Eonycteris
(Dawn fruit bats)

Rousettus
(rousette fruit bats)

Subgenus Boneia: Manado fruit bat (R. bidens)

Subfamily Epomophorinae

Epomophorini

Epomophorus (Epauleted fruit bats)	Angolan epauletted fruit bat (E. angolensis) Ansell's epauletted fruit bat (E. anselli) Peters's epauletted fruit bat (E. crypturus) Gambian epauletted fruit bat (E. gambianus) Lesser Angolan epauletted fruit bat (E. grandis) Ethiopian epauletted fruit bat (E. labiatus) East African epauletted fruit bat (E. minimus) Minor epauletted fruit bat (E. minor) Wahlberg's epauletted fruit bat (E. wahlbergi)
Epomops (Epauleted bats)	Buettikofer's epauletted fruit bat (E. buettikoferi) Dobson's fruit bat (E. dobsoni) Franquet's epauletted fruit bat (E. franqueti)
Hypsignathus	Hammer-headed Bat (H. monstrosus)
Micropteropus (Dwarf epauleted bats)	Hayman's dwarf epauletted fruit bat (M. intermedius) Peters' dwarf epauletted fruit bat (M. pusillus)
Nanonycteris	Veldkamp's dwarf epauletted fruit bat (N. veldkampii)

Myonycterini

Lissonycteris	Angolan rousette (L. angolensis)
Megaloglossus	Azagnyi fruit bat (M. azagnyi) Woermann's bat (M. woermanni)
Myonycteris (Little collared fruit bats)	São Tomé collared fruit bat (M. brachycephala) East African little collared fruit bat (M. relicta) Little collared fruit bat (M. torquata)

Plerotini

Plerotes	D'Anchieta's fruit bat (P. anchietae)

Scotonycterini

Casinycteris	Short-palated fruit bat (C. argynnis) Campo-Ma’an fruit bat (C. campomaanensis) Pohle's fruit bat (C. ophiodon)
Scotonycteris	Zenker's fruit bat (S. zenkeri)

Taxon identifiers
Mirimiri acrodonta	Wikidata: Q430645 Wikispecies: Mirimiri acrodonta ARKive: mirimiri-acrodonta BioLib: 33946 CoL: 43M4Q GBIF: 5787472 iNaturalist: 74634 ITIS: 947187 IUCN: 18655 MDD: 1004436 NCBI: 1496138 Observation.org: 104549 Open Tree of Life: 48401
Pteralopex acrodonta	Wikidata: Q27431633 CoL: 78LBS GBIF: 2432962 IRMNG: 10231682 ITIS: 631616 MSW: 13800234 Observation.org: 86969 Open Tree of Life: 48401

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