Mariana fruit bat
{{Short description|Species of bat}}
{{For|the extinct megabat sometimes known as the little Marianas fruit bat|Guam flying fox}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Mariana fruit bat
| image = Mariana Fruit Bat.jpg
| status = EN
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status2 = CITES_A1
| status2_system = CITES
| status2_ref = {{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}
| genus = Pteropus
| species = mariannus
| authority = Desmarest, 1822
| range_map = Mariana Fruit Bat area.png
| range_map_caption = Mariana fruit bat range
| synonyms = Pteropus keraudren Quoy & Gaimard, 1824
}}
The Mariana fruit bat (Pteropus mariannus), also known as the Mariana flying fox, and the fanihi in Chamorro, is a megabat found only in the Mariana Islands and Ulithi (an atoll in the Caroline Islands).{{MSW3 Chiroptera | id = 13800326 | page = 340}} Habitat loss has driven it to endangered status, and it is listed as threatened by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Poaching, habitat loss, and the introduction of invasive species have contributed to the species' decline.
Description
The Mariana fruit bat is a mid-sized bat which weighs {{convert|0.6|to|1.1|lb|g|abbr=on}}, and has a forearm length of 5.3 to 6.1 in (13.4 to 15.6 cm). Males of the species are slightly larger in size than the females. Their abdomens are colored from black to brown, while also having gray hairs. The mantle and the neck are a brighter brown to golden brown color and the head varies from brown to black. Their ears are rounded and their eyes large, giving them the features of a canid, so many megabats are called flying foxes.[http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/SpeciesReport.do?spcode=A07X "Mariana fruit Bat (=Mariana flying fox) (Pteropus mariannus mariannus)"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226012406/http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/SpeciesReport.do?spcode=A07X |date=2009-02-26 }}, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Environmental Conservation Online System
Threats
The bat is considered a culinary delicacy by Chamorros. Eating fruit bats is linked to a neurological disease called lytico-bodig disease. Paul Alan Cox from the Hawaiian National Tropical Botanical Garden in Kalaheo, and Oliver Sacks from Albert Einstein College in New York, found the bats consumed large quantities of cycad seeds, and - like some eagles, which were shown to build up levels of the pesticide DDT in fat tissue - probably accumulate the toxins to dangerous levels.[https://web.archive.org/web/20031212212245/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/06/0613_030613_bateaters.html "Bat-Eating Linked to Neurological Illness"], National Geographic, June 13, 2003
Conservation
The Mariana Fruit Bat was first proposed for review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in May 1979.{{cite journal |title=Review of the Status of Ten Birds and Two Mammals from Guam |journal=Federal Register |date=May 18, 1979 |volume=44 |issue=98 |pages=29023–29428 |url=https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/federal_register_document/FR-1979-05-18.pdf |access-date=17 October 2023}} In 1983, the species was listed as an endangered species by the USFWS.{{cite journal |journal=Federal Reserve |date=December 30, 1982 |volume=47 |issue=251 |page=58454 |url=https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/federal_register_document/FR-1982-12-30.pdf |access-date=17 October 2023}} The draft of the recovery plan for the Mariana Fruit Bat was sent for review in 2010.{{cite journal |journal=Federal Reserve |date=March 30, 2010 |volume=75 |issue=80 |page=15721 |url=https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/federal_register_document/2010-7058.pdf |access-date=17 October 2023}}
In 2001, the population was estimated to number between 300 and 400 bats on Sarigan.{{cite journal |url=http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/2744/1/vol58n4-585-596.pdf |last1= Johnson |first1= Nathan C. |last2= Wiles |first2= Gary J. |title= Population size and natural history of Mariana fruit bats (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) on Sarigan, Mariana Islands |journal= Pacific Science |location= Honolulu |publisher= University of Hawaii Press |volume= 58 |issue= 4 |date= October 2004 |page= 585 |doi=10.1353/psc.2004.0044|bibcode= 2004PacSc..58..585W |hdl= 10125/2744 |s2cid= 84109386 |hdl-access= free }} The current population numbers are unknown, but one known concentration is on Ritidian Point in Guam.{{cite journal | last = Maxfield | first = Barbara | title = Guam National Wildlife Refuge Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan Released for Public Review and Comment | publisher = US Fish and Wildlife Service | date = 2009-07-22 | url = http://www.fws.gov/pacific/planning/main/docs/HI-PI/Guam/DCCP%20Press%20Release.pdf | access-date = 2012-02-21 | archive-date = 2012-07-19 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120719184256/http://www.fws.gov/pacific/planning/main/docs/HI-PI/Guam/DCCP%20Press%20Release.pdf | url-status = dead }} In 2013, Bat Conservation International listed this species as one of the 35 species of its worldwide priority list of conservation.
Behavior
Johnson and Wiles described roosting behavior: "Sarigan's population differs from those of larger islands in the archipelago by usually having smaller roost sizes, typically 3–75 bats, and large numbers of solitary bats that at times comprise up to half of the population. Colonies and smaller aggregations were composed primarily of harems with multiple females, whereas a nearly equal sex ratio occurred among solitary animals."
Subspecies
Gallery
File:Pteropus mariannus (fanihi) US Fish and Wildlife Service poster.pdf|Conservation poster from USFWS and CNMI Division of Fish & Wildlife
File:Guam flying fox.gif|Mariana fruit bat (Pteropus mariannus mariannus) in flight (USFWS)
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Pteropus mariannus}}
- [http://www.fws.gov/pacificislands/fauna/marianabat.html "Endangered Species in the Pacific Islands: Mariana Fruit Bats / Fanihi"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630041644/https://www.fws.gov/pacificislands/fauna/marianabat.html |date=2018-06-30 }}, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Pacific Islands Fish & Wildlife Office
{{Pteropodidae|P.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1765832}}
Category:Fauna of the Northern Mariana Islands
Category:Mammals described in 1822