Lesser Mascarene Fruit Bat
By Nick Bibby- Size:
- 20 × 30 × 23cm
- Medium:
- Bronze
- Edition size:
- 10
Pteropus subniger
This was the smallest of the fruit bats of the Mascarenes and would have roosted in hollow trees in the forest. A large number could have been easily captured by placing a net over the entrance to a roost and they may have provided an easy source of protein for early settlers.
It was a tremendously fat bat with ears completely hidden by thick fur. Its relatively recent extinction around 1860 has meant that several specimens remain in museums and these have been a major source of reference for the reconstruction.
