Pteropus - fruit eating bat

Pteropus gigantious is been explained here with detailed characteristic features, it is a fruit eating bat.
many people think that all bats are responsible for corona virus but from studies it is found that a herbivore bat was not responsible for majority of bat related diseases.
This misunderstanding has led to the death of a lot of these innocent species this slide share basically tells about theirs habits, habitat, mating nature and manyother interesting facts.


Hope you'll like it ...

1. Pteropus

2. Pteropus giganteus (Indian flying fox)

3. Classification Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : chordata Group : Craniata Subphylum : Vertebrata Super class : Gnathostomata Class : Mammalia Subclass : Theria Infraclass : Eutheria Cohort : Unguiculata Order : Chiroptera
Genus : Pteropus

4. Distribution CONTINENTS : Asia SUBCONTINENTS : South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia
COUNTRIES : Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India , Maldives, Myanmar , Nepal, Pakistan , Sri Lanka

5. General characteristics of Pteropus giganteus

6. The Indian flying fox has reddish brown fur , a long snout and large eyes , all of which make it resemble a fox – hence its name. All bats have wings with a clawed thumb , and the Indian flying fox also has a claw on its second finger for grasping fruit.

7. The wingspan of this large bat averages 4 to 5 feet , but can reach 6 feet in large adult males. Males weigh around 3 pounds, while females are a bit smaller. Unlike insect-eating bats that use echolocation, the Indian flying fox’s ears are small, as these bats rely on eyes and sense of smell to locate food sources

8. Diet and nutrition Herbivore , Frugivore The Indian flying foxes maintain frugivorous diet, supplementing it with insects as well as flowers, containing juice and nectar. Although their favorite fruits are figs, the animals also consume mango, guava, bananas and various cultivated fruits.

9. Habits and lifestyle A single group usually occupies one tree. These bats live in a ‘vertical’, male-dominated hierarchy system, where higher-ranked individuals occupy higher spots of the tree, while lower-ranked individuals remain on lower spots. Males of a group are responsible for protecting their roost and particularly, females, from outsiders. The Indian flying foxes are nocturnal animals. When sleeping, they hang by their feet in an upside down position( graviportal ), wrapping their wings around themselves. At sunset, they wake up and leave the tree to forage. They spend their night time hours looking for food , feeding, digesting their meal, resting as well as socializing and moving around the tree. In order to maintain suitable body temperature , these bats fan themselves with their wings.

10. Mating behaviour MATING BEHAVIOR : Polygynandry REPRODUCTION SEASON : July-October PREGNANCY DURATION : 140-150 days
BABY CARRYING. : 1-2 pups
Males usually defend females of their roost from males, coming from the outside. Viviparous The newborn bats are carried by their mother until 3 weeks old, after which the babies begin hanging by their feet independently. The babies are cared for only by their mother . After around 11 weeks old, they are able to fly.

11. Facts lose huge amounts of water through their wings when flying. Hence, these animals have larger water requirement , than all other mammals of their size.
The upside down position , has its advantages. For example, in order to take flight, these animals just have to loosen their feet and spread their wings .
Flying foxes are accomplished swimmers . They have been seen swimming through rivers with their wings , as flippers. When a female gives birth , the baby usually comes feet first and hence grabs onto its mother as soon as being born. wrap their wings around their bodies while they sleep, which makes them even less visible in their dark.

12. IUCN Status : least concerned

13. Thankyou