Okinawa flying fox explained

See also: Ryukyu flying fox.

The Okinawa flying fox (Pteropus loochoensis) is a species of megabat in the genus Pteropus. It is endemic to possibly Japan. It was previously listed as extinct by the IUCN, but because the two known specimens are taxonomically uncertain and of unknown provenance, it was changed to 'Data Deficient'. Some place this animal into synonymy under Pteropus mariannus.^{[1] [2]} Two specimens are in the British Natural History Museum, and the whereabouts of the third is unknown. Two of the specimens are believed to have come from Southeast Asia, so the true distribution of the Okinawa flying fox is unknown.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Koopman, K.F. 1993. Order Chiroptera. In: D.E. Wilson and D.M. Reeder (eds) Mammal species of the World, a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 2nd edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
2. MacPhee, R.D.E. and Flemming, C. 1999. Requiem Æternam. The last five hundred years of mammalian species extinctions. In: R.D.E. MacPhee (ed.) Extinctions in Near Time, pp.333-371. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York.
3. Simmons, N.B. 2005. Order Chiroptera. In: D.E. Wilson and D.M. Reeder (eds) Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Third edition, vol 1, pp. 312-529. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.