Nyctimene is a genus of bats in the Pteropodidae family.[2] Commonly known as tube-nosed fruit bats,[3][4][5][6][7] they are found in the central Philippines, eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the north-east coast of Australia.[8][9]
Taxonomy
The genus was erected by Moritz Balthasar Borkhausen in 1797.[1][10] The name Nyctimene, derived from Ancient Greek, does not mean ‘night moon’ as 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.[11]
Species
The recognised taxa are named in the vernacular as tube-nosed fruit bats or tube-nosed bats, and includes the following
The mammals on our stamps. Descriptions of the mammals featured on Papua New Guinea's October 1980 stamps issue.
Taxonomic status of Nyctimene (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) from the Banda, Kai and Aru Islands, Maluku, Indonesia - implications for biogeography.
Electrophoretic resolution of species boundaries in tube-nosed bats (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) in Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Notes on distribution and taxonomy of Australasian bats. I. Pteropodinae and Nyctimeninae (Mammalia, Megachiroptera, Pteropodidae).
Markedly discordant mitochondrial DNA and allozyme phylogenies of tube-nosed fruit bats, Nyctimene, at the Australian-oriental biogeographical interface.
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