Black-bearded flying fox Black-bearded flying fox The black-bearded flying fox ("Pteropus melanopogon") is an endangered species of megabat in the genus "Pteropus". It is endemic to Indonesia, found on the islands of Ambon, Buru, Seram, Banda, and Yamdena. Currently considered monotypic, it formerly included the Aru flying fox and Kei flying fox as subspecies. It was described in 1867 by German naturalist Wilhelm Peters based off an individual in the collection of Hermann Schlegel. Its species name comes from the New Latin melanin, which is derived from Ancient Greek "mélas", meaning "black", and Ancient Greek pṓgōn, meaning "beard". As the genus "Pteropus" is
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