The Bismarck masked flying fox (''Pteropus capistratus'') is a species of
flying fox in the family
Pteropodidae found in
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
and named after the
Bismarck Archipelago. It was once considered a subspecies of ''
Pteropus temminckii'' before being reassessed in 2001. This species has two subspecies, ''P. c. capistratus'' and ''P. c. ennisae''. The IUCN classified it as ''Near Threatened'' in 2009, noting that the rate of decline is almost high enough to reclassify the species as ''Vulnerable.''
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Taxonomy
The Bismarck masked flying fox was described as a new species in 1867 by German naturalist Wilhelm Peters
Wilhelm Karl Hartwich (or Hartwig) Peters (22 April 1815 – 20 April 1883) was a German natural history, naturalist and explorer.
He was assistant to the anatomist Johannes Peter Müller and later became curator of the Natural History Museum, ...
. Prior to 1995, the Bismarck masked flying fox was largely considered a subspecies
In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
of the Temminck's flying fox (''Pteropus temminckii'').
Description
Its forearm length is .
Biology and ecology
It is one of the rare species of mammals in which the males can lactate.[Bats: A World of Science and Mystery (Hardcover) by M. Brock Fenton, Nancy B. Simmons, p. 168.]
It is generally solitary, though males and females may roost together in pairs.
Range and habitat
The Bismarck masked flying fox is endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
where it has been documented at a range of elevations from above sea level.
Conservation
As of 2021, it is evaluated as a vulnerable species
A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...
by the IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...
. It meets the criteria for this designation because it has a small population size, likely numbering fewer than 10,000 mature individuals. It is experiencing significant habitat loss and population decline.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1763843
Pteropus
Mammals described in 1867
Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters
Bats of Oceania