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Megabat

Megabats
Large flying fox, Pteropus vampyrus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Class:
Order:
Suborder:
Megachiroptera
Family:
Pteropodidae

Gray, 1821
Subfamilies

Macroglossinae
Pteropodinae

Fox Island, Australia, is believed to be home to the largest colony of flying foxes on the continent

Megabats are also called Old World fruit bats.[1] They are the suborder Megachiroptera, family Pteropodidae of the order Chiroptera (bats).

These fruit bats are flying mammals that live in dense forests in Africa, Europe, Australia, and Asia. There are about 166 species of fruit bats. Fruit bats are sometimes known as flying foxes. These bats live in huge colonies, known as "camps." These nocturnal (most active at night) animals rest during the day while hanging upside down from their feet. [2]

  1. Mickleburgh, Hutson and Racey. Old World Fruit Bats: Introduction. International Union for Conservation of Nature.
  2. In fact there is a New World bat which eats fruit, the Jamaican 'fruit bat' Artibeus jamaicensis in Central America and the Caribbean. It is not closely related to the Old World fruit bats.

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