Nyctimene is a genus of bats in the Pteropodidae family. Commonly known as tube-nosed fruit bats or yoda bats, they are found in the central Philippines, eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the northeast coast of Australia.
Contents
Taxonomy
The genus was described by Moritz Balthasar Borkhausen in 1797. The name Nyctimene, derived from Ancient Greek, does not mean ‘night moon’ as has been suggested, but roughly 'who stays up at night'.
Description
The facial features of the species are distinguished by projecting nostrils, rather than the simple features of most other megabats, the appearance of which has been likened to a frightened horse.
Species
The recognised taxa are named in the vernacular as tube-nosed fruit bats or tube-nosed bats, and includes the following:
Broad-striped tube-nosed bat, Nyctimene aello
Common tube-nosed bat, Nyctimene albiventer
Pallas's tube-nosed bat, Nyctimene cephalotes
Dark tube-nosed bat, Nyctimene celaeno
Mountain tube-nosed bat, Nyctimene certans
Round-eared tube-nosed bat, Nyctimene cyclotis
Dragon tube-nosed bat, Nyctimene draconilla
Keast's tube-nosed bat, Nyctimene keasti
Island tube-nosed bat, Nyctimene major
Malaita tube-nosed bat, Nyctimene malaitensis
Demonic tube-nosed bat, Nyctimene masalai
Lesser tube-nosed bat, Nyctimene minutus
Philippine tube-nosed bat, Nyctimene rabori
Eastern tube-nosed bat, Nyctimene robinsoni
Nendo tube-nosed bat, Nyctimene sanctacrucis
Umboi tube-nosed bat, Nyctimene vizcaccia
New Guinea tube-nosed bat, Nyctimene wrightae