160.

Ontong Java Flying Fox

Pteropus howensis

French: Roussette d'Ontong Java / German: Ontong-Java-Flughund / Spanish: Zorro volador de Ontong Java

Taxonomy. Pteropus howensis Troughton, 1931,

Ontong Java, Lord Howe's Group [= Ontong Java Atoll], Solomon Islands.

Some authors suggest that P. howensis might be conspecific with P. admiralitatum. Monotypic.

Distribution. Solomon Is (Ontong Java Atoll); possibly also on Nukumanu I.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 176— 196 mm (tailless), ear 21-23 mm, hindfoot 33-36 mm, forearm 118-122 mm. Muzzle of the Ontong Java Flying Fox is slightly narrowed and sparsely furred, rhinarium is brown, nostrils are short and tubular, and irises are brown. Ears are dark earth brown, short, broad, and obvious above fur. Head is brown, with intermingling oflighter mantle on crown and as far as between eyes. Cheeks, side of neck, and throat are dark brown. Mantle is strongly bicolored, with hairs dark brown basally and golden cinnamon to ocherous buff distally. Back hair is short and adpressed, with intermingling of silverwhite hairs, overall ranging from auburn to dark auburn. Rump is darker shade of brown. Tibia is naked. Chest is medium brown, with variable washing of lighter mantle; belly is dark medium brown to deep olive buff, with or without sprinkling of silvery buff hair toward center. Uropatagium is sparsely furred, encroaching to marginsof tibia and extending down to one-half the length oftibia. Wing membranes are brown and originate from sides of body. Skull is slightly narrowed, with relatively small orbital diameter and shorter mandible. P, and M, are wide.

Habitat. [.ow-lying coral atolls.

Food and Feeding. Green coconuts and inflorescences probably contributed to diets of OntongJava Flying Fox after native vegetation was removed from the 1950s onward, butits rarity might indicate a preference for previously existing native flora.

Breeding. Two of three female Ontong Java Flying Foxes captured in August were pregnant with embryos weighing 20 g and 29 g.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. The Ontong Java Flying Fox roosts in small colonies.

Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. The Ontong Java Flying Fox was known to be rare by the 1950s. Its distribution, assuming it differs from that of the Admiralty Flying Fox (P. admiralitatum), is extremely limited; its entire available habitat has been converted to coconut plantations; and the low-lying atoll is likely to be subsumed by rising sea levels. It almost certainly should be classified as Endangered.

Bibliography. Flannery (1995a), Helgen & Allison (2008), Phillips (1968), Sanborn & Nicholson (1950), Simmons (2005).