Environment and Ecology

What will you think of when talking about bats? Did you know there is a type of bat called fox instead of bats? What we will be talking about today is the large flying fox. Overview  The large flying fox, known as  Pteropus vampyrus, is a Southeast Asian species of megabat. It has a life span of about 15 to 30 years, with a weight of 0.6 to 1 Kg and 27 to 32cm in length but 1.5 to 2m of wingspan.  The large flying fox can reach a top speed of 19 mph when flying. The difference between large flying foxes and other bats is that despite not having echolocation, it makes up for it with highly excellent eyesight. Appearance Large flying fox has short and upright hair on the upper back but longer and wolly hair on other parts of the body. Different sexes and age classes come with different colour and texture of the coat. Compared to females, males often have slightly stiffer and thicker coats. The majority of immature flying foxes are drab grey-brown in colour. Males have a lighter mantle as