Bonin flying fox Bonin flying fox The Bonin flying fox, Bonin fruit bat ("Pteropus pselaphon"), or in Japanese is a species of flying fox in the family Pteropodidae. It is endemic to four islands (Chichijima, Hahajima, North Iwo Jima, and South Iwo Jima) in Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Its natural habitat is subtropical forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. The Bonin flying fox was described by British naturalist George Tradescant Lay in 1829. He gave it the species name "pselaphon" as a reference to "the habit of feeling instead of seeing its way in the day time." "Pselaphon" is a New Latin word
Indian flying fox a new name for a species that had already been described—"Vespertilio vampyrus" which is now "Pteropus vampyrus" (the large flying fox). Mlíkovský made several points in his argument, all with a foundation in the nomenclature rule known as Principle of Priority. The Principle of Priority posits that the first formal, published scientific name given to a species shall be the name that is used. Because Brünnich was attempting to rename the large flying fox in his 1782 publication, his name should not apply to either the large or the Indian flying fox—an older name was in existence, and therefore the