Black flying fox Black flying fox The black flying fox or black fruit bat ("Pteropus alecto") is a bat in the family Pteropodidae. It is among the largest bats in the world, but is considerably smaller than the largest species in its genus, "Pteropus". The black flying fox is native to Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia. It is not a threatened species. Juvenile specimens of this species from Moa Island in Torres Strait have been described as a separate species, "Pteropus banakrisi". This supposed species was known as the "Torresian flying fox" or "Moa Island fruit bat". The black flying fox has
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