Fruit bat; Stuttgart; 5th September 2015

Labelled as Pteropus species with no specific name supplied

These are, I believe, Pteropus vampyrus they used to be held in the nocturnal house, but as this has closed for the foreseeable future they have been given temporary labelling elsewhere.

Tim May said:

Labelled as Pteropus species with no specific name supplied

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And ergo the subject of much zoo nerdish debate!

Zootierliste lists them as vampyrus and having been there since 1988, and I'm sure that matches what they used to be labelled as in the nocturnal section.

They do look right for vampyrus: http://www.zoochat.com/865/large-flying-fox-lubee-bat-conservancy-346837/

..rather than, say, giganteus: http://www.zoochat.com/865/indian-flying-fox-lubee-bat-conservancy-346830/

...but it's quite possible they're hybrids.

TeaLovingDave said:

These are, I believe, Pteropus vampyrus they used to be held in the nocturnal house, but as this has closed for the foreseeable future they have been given temporary labelling elsewhere.

Click to expand...

Maguari said:

Zootierliste lists them as vampyrus and having been there since 1988, and I'm sure that matches what they used to be labelled as in the nocturnal section.

Click to expand...

Many thanks to both of you for your input here.

Yes, I noticed that they are listed as P.vampyrus on Zootierliste; I also recall seeing bats labelled as such in the old nocturnal house on previous visits.

However, the fact that no specific name was given on the current label made me think that there must be some doubt as to their true identity; consequently, I was reluctant to label my photograph as a particular species.

As at 5th September 2019, these bats are still labelled Pteropus spec with no species name provided.