Aldabra flying fox Aldabra flying fox The Aldabra flying fox ("Pteropus aldabrensis") is a species of megabat in the genus Pteropus. It is endemic to the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles, like Chaerephon pusilla, though the latter may be the same species as the little free-tailed bat. The bat was given its scientific name by Frederick W. True, an American biologist and curator at the United States National Museum (now part of the Smithsonian Institution) in an 1893 publication. True based his description of the species on two specimens collected in 1892 by William Louis Abbott, an American doctor and naturalist. Like other
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