''Cynopterus'' (Latin meaning: ״flying dog״) is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

megabat Megabats constitute the family Pteropodidae of the order Chiroptera ( bats). They are also called fruit bats, Old World fruit bats, or—especially the genera '' Acerodon'' and '' Pteropus''— flying foxes. They are the only member of the ...

s. The cynopterine section is represented by 11 genera,Andersen K. 1912. Catalogue of the chiroptera in the collection of the British Museum. Second edition, British Museum of Natural History. five of which occur in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, namely, ''Chironax, Balionycteris, Penthetor, Dyacopterus'', and ''Cynopterus''. About 30 names for ''Cynopterus''

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

have been proposed, but only 16 are

taxonomically In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are gi ...

valid forms.Kitchener DJ, Maharadatunkamsi. 1991. Description of a new species of ''Cynopterus'' (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) from Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Research Western Australian Museum 15(2):307-363. Species within this genus are: Genus ''Cynopterus'' *

Lesser short-nosed fruit bat The lesser short-nosed fruit bat (''Cynopterus brachyotis'') is a species of megabat within the family Pteropodidae. It is a small bat that lives in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It weighs between , and measures . It occurs in many types of habi ...

(''C. brachyotis'') *

Horsfield's fruit bat Horsfield's fruit bat (''Cynopterus horsfieldii'') is a species of megabat native to South East Asia. It is named for Thomas Horsfield, an American naturalist who presented the type specimen to the British Museum. Description Horsfield's fruit ba ...

(''C. horsfieldii'') *

Peters's fruit bat Peters's fruit bat (''Cynopterus luzoniensis'') is a species of megabat within the family Pteropodidae. It is found in Sulawesi, Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, ...

(''C. luzoniensis'') *

Minute fruit bat The minute fruit bat (''Cynopterus minutus'') is a species of megabat within the family Pteropodidae. It is found in Sumatra, Java, Borneo and Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greate ...

(''C. minutus'') *

Nusatenggara short-nosed fruit bat The Nusatenggara short-nosed fruit bat (''Cynopterus nusatenggara'') is a species of megabat within the family Pteropodidae found in Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania betw ...

(''C. nusatenggara'') *

Greater short-nosed fruit bat The greater short-nosed fruit bat (''Cynopterus sphinx''), or short-nosed Indian fruit bat, is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae found in South and Southeast Asia. Description These bats have a relatively long snout. Their upper pa ...

(''C. sphinx'') *

Indonesian short-nosed fruit bat The Indonesian short-nosed fruit bat (''Cynopterus titthaecheilus'') is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae. It is endemic to Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Ocean ...

(''C. titthaecheilus'')

Betacoronavirus

During a survey of ''Cynopterus brachyotis'', it was uncovered that a bat coronavirus (''

Betacoronavirus ''Betacoronavirus'' (β-CoVs or Beta-CoVs) is one of four genera ('' Alpha''-, ''Beta-'', '' Gamma-'', and '' Delta-'') of coronaviruses. Member viruses are enveloped, positive-strand RNA viruses that infect mammals (of which humans are part ...

'') is closely related to the bat coronavirus ''

Rousettus bat coronavirus HKU9 ''Rousettus bat coronavirus HKU9'' (''HKU9-1'') is an enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA mammalian Group 2 ''Betacoronavirus'' discovered in ''Rousettus'' bats in China in 2011. This strain of coronavirus is closely related to the EM ...

'' species found in

Leschenault's rousette Leschenault's rousette (''Rousettus leschenaultii'') is a species of fruit bat. The scientific name of the species was first published by Desmarest in 1820. Description Leschenault's rousette is brown to grey-brown in colour with lighter under ...

which was discovered in the Guangdong and Yunnan provinces.

References

Mammals of Southeast Asia Bats of Malaysia Bat genera Taxa named by Frédéric Cuvier {{fruit-bat-stub id:Codot