Pteropus caniceps J. E. Gray 1870
Creators: name: Don E. Wilson
name: Russell A. Mittermeier
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Chiroptera
Pteropodidae
Pteropus
Pteropus caniceps

description: 191.
North Moluccan Flying Fox
Pteropus caniceps
French: North Moluccan Flying Fox / German: Nordmolukken-Flughund / Spanish: Zorro volador de Molucas
Other common names: Ashy-headed Flying Fox
Taxonomy. Pteropus caniceps J. E. Gray, 1870,
“Batchian [= DBacan Islands],” Maluku Islands, Indonesia.
Pteropus caniceps is in the melanopogon species group. Subspecies dobsoni from Sulawesi apparently is not valid. Monotypic.
Distribution. N Moluccas Is (Halmahera and its satellite islands). Sula, Peleng, and Sangihe Is records are erroneous, and a single record from a trader in Sulawesi is dubious.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 213 mm (tailless), ear 23-30 mm, hindfoot 47 mm, forearm 188-205 mm; weight 860-900 g. Greatest lengths of skulls are 78-90 mm and tibias 83-85 mm. Head of the North Moluccan Flying Fox is brown on sides, with orange-chestnut to golden orange buffy crown extending between ears onto forehead. Bases of most hairs are golden. Ears are of moderate length, with rounded tips. Fur is generally short. Forearm and tibia are naked. Back is dark seal-brown down through rump, with distinct separation from chestnut-orange mantle and sprinkles of golden hairs mixed in. Chest is golden, and belly is buffy with flecks of light brown hairs. Calcar is reduced. Wing membranes arise close (c. 10 mm apart) along sides of spine. Index claw is present. Skull is typical pteropine but heavy and robust, with large orbits, crests, and postorbital processes and broad rostrum. Palate ridges: 5 + 5 + 3. Dentition is typical pteropine but heavy built and broad; cheekteeth have posterior ledges. Habitat. Old growth forest from sea level up to elevations of ¢. 1500 m. Habitat on Halmahera and its satellite islands is evergreen rainforest, with some swathes of semievergreen rainforest in the southern peninsula. Ternate, Tidore, and parts of Bacan are moist deciduous forest.
Food and Feeding. Anecdotal evidence from Tidore suggests that North Moluccan Flying Foxes feed on breadfruit (Artocarpus, Moraceae).
Breeding. Some births of North Moluccan Flying Foxes have been recorded in November, and females examined in late November to early December were lactating. Activity patterns. The North Moluccan Flying Fox is nocturnal. One individual was captured in the hollow of a durian (Durio zibethinus, Malvaceae) tree during the day. Movements, Home range and Social organization. A mating pair of North Moluccan Flying Foxesis usually found in tree hollows.
Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List. Population decline of the Northern Moluccan Flying Fox is suspected to have been more than 30% over three generations due to hunting and habitat loss. Distribution is fragmented over several islands. Its reliance on tree crevices as roosting sites means logging and mining have great impact on populations. Logging and cultivation severely depleted forests in Northern Moluccas during World War II, and commercial logging intensified even more in the 1970s.
Bibliography. Andersen (1912b), Bergmans & Rozendaal (1988), Corbet & Hill (1992), Flannery (1995a), Monk et al. (1997), Simmons (2005), Tsang (2016i).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Pteropodidae, pp. 16-162 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 162, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6448815