Animal Info - Montane Monkey-faced Bat

Pteralopex pulchra

Status: Critically Endangered

1. Profile
2. Tidbits
3. Status and Trends (IUCN Status, Countries Where Currently Found, History of Distribution)
4. Data on Biology and Ecology (Size, Habitat, Diet)
5. References

Profile

The head and body length of the genus Pteralopex is 255 - 280 mm (10 - 11"). The other species in the genus are generally restricted to primary forest, and this species may be similar. The montane monkey-faced bat is found above the altitude of 800 m (2600'). It probably has a diet similar to the other species of the genus, mainly based on nuts.

The montane monkey-faced bat is known only from Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.

Tidbits

*** Very little information has been published about this species.

*** The montane monkey-faced bat is known from only from 1 specimen (Nowak 1999).

*** On Guadalcanal, the species Pteralopex atrata seems to be replaced by Pteralopex pulchra above the height of 800 m (2600'). This is the only record of altitudinal zonation in Solomon mammals (Bowen-Jones et al. 1997).

Status and Trends

IUCN Status:

1994: Endangered
1996 - 2004: Critically Endangered (Criteria: A1c) (Population Trend: Decreasing) (IUCN 2004)

Countries Where the Montane Monkey-faced Bat Is Currently Found:

2004: Occurs in the Solomon Islands (IUCN 2004).

History of Distribution:

The montane monkey-faced bat is known only from Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.

Data on Biology and Ecology

Size:

The head and body length of the genus Pteralopex is 255 - 280 mm (10 - 11").

Habitat:

The montane monkey-faced bat is found above the altitude of 800 m (2600'). The other species in the genus are generally restricted to primary forest, and this species may be similar.

The montane monkey-faced bat lives in the East Melanesian Islands Biodiversity Hotspot (Cons. Intl. 2005).

Diet:

This species of the genus Pteralopex probably has a diet similar to the other species of the genus, mainly based on nuts.

References

Bowen-Jones et al. 1997, Cons. Intl. 2005, IUCN 1994, IUCN 1996, IUCN 2000, IUCN 2003a, IUCN 2004, Nowak 1999

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Last modified: March 6, 2005;