page_title: Megabat
section_title: List of genera
hierarchical_section_title: Megabat / Taxonomy and evolution / List of genera
caption_attribution_description: Leaders in bat conservation kicked off Bat Week 2017 in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday with a reception in the Rayburn Building. Photos: Kayt Jonsson/USFWS
context_page_description: Megabats constitute the family Pteropodidae of the order Chiroptera. 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 superfamily Pteropodoidea, which is one of two superfamilies in the suborder Yinpterochiroptera. Internal divisions of Pteropodidae have varied since subfamilies were first proposed in 1917. From three subfamilies in the 1917 classification, six are now recognized, along with various tribes. As of 2018, 197 species of megabat had been described.
  The understanding of the evolution of megabats has been determined primarily by genetic data, as the fossil record for this family is the most fragmented of all bats. They likely evolved in Australasia, with the common ancestor of all living pteropodids existing approximately 31 million years ago. Many of their lineages probably originated in Melanesia, then dispersed over time to mainland Asia, the Mediterranean, and Africa. Today, they are found in tropical and subtropical areas of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania.
context_section_description: The family Pteropodidae is divided into six subfamilies represented by 46 genera:
  Family Pteropodidae
  subfamily Cynopterinae
  genus Aethalops – pygmy fruit bats
  genus Alionycteris
  genus Balionycteris
  genus Chironax
  genus Cynopterus – dog-faced fruit bats or short-nosed fruit bats
  genus Dyacopterus – Dayak fruit bats
  genus Haplonycteris
  genus Latidens
  genus Megaerops
  genus Otopteropus
  genus Penthetor
  genus Ptenochirus – musky fruit bats
  genus Sphaerias
  genus Thoopterus
  subfamily Eidolinae
  genus Eidolon – straw-coloured fruit bats
  subfamily Harpiyonycterinae
  genus Aproteles
  genus Boneia
  genus Dobsonia – naked-backed fruit bats
  genus Harpyionycteris
  subfamily Nyctimeninae
  genus Nyctimene – tube-nosed fruit bats
  genus Paranyctimene
  subfamily Pteropodinae
  genus Melonycteris
  tribe Pteropodini
  genus Acerodon
  genus Pteralopex
  genus Pteropus – flying foxes
  genus Styloctenium
  subfamily Rousettinae
  tribe Eonycterini
  genus Eonycteris – dawn fruit bats
  tribe Epomophorini
  genus Epomophorus – epauletted fruit bats
  genus Epomops – epauletted bats
  genus Hypsignathus
  genus Micropteropus – dwarf epauletted bats
  genus Nanonycteris
  tribe Myonycterini
  genus Megaloglossus
  genus Myonycteris – little collared fruit bats
  tribe Plerotini
  genus Plerotes
  tribe Rousettini
  genus Rousettus – rousette fruit bats
  tribe Scotonycterini
  genus Casinycteris
  genus Scotonycteris
  tribe Stenonycterini
  genus Stenonycteris
  Incertae sedis
  genus Notopteris – long-tailed fruit bats
  genus Mirimiri
  genus Neopteryx
  genus Desmalopex
  genus †Turkanycteris
  tribe Macroglossini
  genus Macroglossus – long-tongued fruit bats
  genus Syconycteris – blossom bats
caption: The straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum)
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