Pteropus lylei K. Andersen 1908
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 lylei

description: 179.
Lyle’s Flying Fox
Pteropus lylei
French: Roussette de Lyle / German: Lyle-Flughund / Spanish: Zorro volador de Lyle
Taxonomy. Pteropus lylei K. Andersen, 1908,
“ Bangkok, Siam [= Thailand].”
Pteropus lylei 1s in the vampyrus species group. Monotypic.
Distribution. S Thailand, S Cambodia, and S Vietnam around Gulf of Thailand, entering inland C Cambodia. Single specimen recorded in Yunnan (China) considered alien.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 200 mm (tailless), ear 34-36 mm, hindfoot 50-54 mm, forearm 145-160 mm; weight 390-480 g. Lyle’s Flying Fox is similar to the Indian Flying Fox (P. medius) but smaller. Muzzle is long, tapering, dark brown, and sparsely haired; nostrils are shortly tubular. Eyes are large, with brown irises. Ears are long and pointed. Head pelage is dark brown around eyes; cap and sides of head are reddish to yellowish brown. Nape and mantle are distinctly yellowish to buff or ocherous buff, orange in some individuals, with longer and hirsute hairs, extending to sides of neck; mantle ends abruptly on back, which is dark brown to rump, with closely adpressed, distinctly grizzled hairs. Throat is dark; collar is reddish brown to russet, separate from seal-brown, grizzled belly, often washed in reddish tinge; and in some individuals, belly is russet or orange-brown down to black genitals. Wing membranes are dark brown from slightly above medial plane, index claw is present, and all claws are black. Forearm and tibia are naked dorsally. Uropatagium is narrow at center; calcaris short. Skull is typical pteropine, with strong basicranial deflection; rostrum is long and tapering; orbit is large; zygoma is thin, weak, and gently arched; braincase is domed; postorbital foramina are large; postorbital constriction is poorly marked; temporal lines do notjoin in raised sagittal crest; nuchal crest is obvious but low; palate is flat and long; tooth rows are slightly divergent posteriorly; and post-dental palate is relatively short. Mandible is rather delicate; symphysis is long and sloping. Dentition is typical pteropine but generally weak, with rather rounded cusps; M,is small and peglike. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 40 and FN = 76.
Habitat. Mangrove forests, freshwater and peat swamp forests, lowland deciduous dry forests, mountain rainforests, and rainforests. Roosting habitat of Lyle’s Flying Fox can be in close proximity to human settlements, with marked preference (53% of roosts) for trees growing in Buddhist temples, and is usually near watercourses.
Food and Feeding. Liyle’s Flying Fox is primarily frugivorous. In Thailand,it eats fruits of 34 plant genera, predominantly figs (Ficus, Moraceae) and cultivated plants in orchards. Plants visited for flowers and leaves include Acacia (Fabaceae), Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae), and Markhamia (Bignoniaceae). Lyle’s Flying Foxes ingest ¢.50% their body weight/day. It is an important seed disperser and a central-place forager that returns to the same roosts after foraging.
Breeding. Lyle’s Flying Fox is seasonally monoestrous. Mating and courtship occur in morning and late afternoon at roosts. Litter size is one, occasionally two. Young are more common in colonies in April-May (hot inter-monsoonal period). Young remains attached to, and flies with, its mother for most of the lactation period.
Activity patterns. Lyle’s Flying Foxes are crepuscular and nocturnal. They leave day roosts in the evening to forage and return in early morning (03:00-05:00 h). Lunar phase had no influence on timing of colony-wide emergence; during breeding season, females were the last to emerge. During daytime, sleeping, grooming, and wing flapping are the most frequent behaviors of roosting bats. Wing spreading, movement, and courtship are more frequent in males than females; the opposite is true for grooming and antagonistic behaviors.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Lyle’s Flying Fox is highly colonial and roosts in tall trees; in Thailand, roosts contain 100-1000 individuals of both sexes, with one colony of more than 11,000 individuals. It is highly mobile and can travel up to 24 km /night from day roosts to foraging areas; cumulative distances traveled per night are up to 50 km. Fidelity for roosting and feeding sites is high. Lyle’s Flying Fox spent 5—-8% of time commuting to foraging sites, 58-78% foraging, and 12-37% roosting depending on season (more foraging in November, more roosting in April-May); 62-65% of roosting time was spent resting.
Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List. Lyle’s Flying Fox is perceived to have decline of more than 30% over the past 15 years due to increase hunting and trade, decline in habitat quality and extent due to deforestation, and loss of tall roosting trees. It occurs in protected areas. It is tolerant of human presence; roosting sites are in close proximity to settlements, particularly Buddhist temples where it is protected by monks (58% of 30 known roosts in Thailand). The Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act protects it in Thailand, and overall population is estimated to be 75,000 individuals.
Bibliography. Almeida et al. (2014), Andersen (1912b), Boonneung (1977), Bumrungsri, Suyanto & Francis (2008), Chaiyes et al. (2017), Hengjan (2011), Hondo et al. (2010), Hood et al. (1988), Smith, A.T. & Xie Yan (2008), Smith, J.D.L. & Gregory (2009), Weber et al. (2015), Zhang Jinshuo et al. (2010).
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 157, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6448815