The steadfast tube-nosed fruit bat (''Paranyctimene tenax'') is a species of

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 ...

in the family Pteropodidae found in West Papua,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. The species was first proposed as a subgeneric arrangement of '' Nyctimene'', published as ''Nyctimene'' (''Paranyctimene'') ''tenax''. The epithet ''tenax'', derived from the Latin for 'steadfast', was intended to describe the conservation work of Peter Nijhoff, whose retirement was announced when the new species was discovered. The subspecific epithet ''marculus'', derived from Latin, translates as 'little hammer' and the diminutive form of Marc Argeloo's name, a dedication to his collections of bats for the Amsterdam Zoological Museum. Two subspecies were recognised by

Mammal Species of the World ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, published in late 2005, ...

(2005), *''Paranyctimene'' :* '' Paranyctimene raptor'' (Lesser tube-nosed fruit bat), the type, first proposed in 1942. :* ''Paranyctimene tenax'' Bergmans, 2001 (Steadfast tube-nosed fruit bat) ::* '' Paranyctimene tenax tenax'' ::* '' Paranyctimene tenax marculus'' Bergmans, 2001 The species is larger than ''Paranyctimene raptor'', with recorded forearm measurements of 51.0 to 54.9 millimetres, and the greatest length of the skull in a range of 25.2–27.2 mm for both subspecies.

References

* "Mammals described from the Papuan region between 1995 and 2010.

Paranyctimene Mammals of Papua New Guinea Mammals of Western New Guinea Mammals described in 2001 Bats of Oceania Bats of Southeast Asia Bats of New Guinea {{fruit-bat-stub