Records of the Western Australian Museum 17:147-152 (1995). 
Small Pteropus (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) from Timor and surrounding 
islands, Indonesia 
D.J. Kitchener 1 and I. Maryanto 2 
1 Western Australian Museum, Francis Street, Perth, Western Australia 6000 
2 Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense, L1PI, Jalan Ir. H. Juanda 9, Bogor, Indonesia, 16122 
Abstract - A series of 10 adult Pteropus specimens collected in West Timor in 
1929 are described as a new subspecies, Pteropus lombocensis salottii 
Kitchener. These specimens are compared using univariate and multivariate 
statistical analysis, principally of skull and dentary characters, with other 
subspecies of P. lombocensis and with both P. griseus and P. temmincki. This is 
the first report of P. lombocensis from Timor and Komodo. 
INTRODUCTION 
Three species of Pteropus have been reported 
from Timor Island, Nusa Tenggara Timur, 
Indonesia. These are P. vampyrus edulis Geoffroy, 
1810; P. alecto ? gouldi Peters, 1867 and P. g. griseus 
Geoffroy, 1810 (Andersen 1912, Goodwin 1979, Hill 
1992 and Kitchener et al. 1995a). Timor is the type 
locality for P. g. griseus. 
Goodwin (1979: 88) stated that the many reports 
of P. temmincki Peters, 1867 from Timor and Semau 
(e.g., Dobson 1878, Andersen 1912, Schwarz 1914) 
are with one exception "traceable to 
misidentifications of specimens of P. griseus". The 
exception is the British Museum specimen BMNH 
58.11.18.2, initially cited by Dobson (1878). 
Goodwin (1979) confirmed that this specimen was 
indeed P. temmincki. However, he stated that 
because it was purchased from a dealer in Holland, 
its provenance may be doubtful. His reason for 
doubt was that its occurrence on Timor would 
represent a "rather anomalous distribution 
pattern" because elsewhere it is restricted to 
Ambon, Buru and Seram. 
Goodwin (1979) also doubted the report by 
Seabra (1897) of P. pselaphon Lay, 1829 from Timor. 
His examination of this Timor specimen in the 
Museu Bocage, Lisbon (MB296) suggested that it 
was in fact an immature P. griseus. 
The Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense has a series 
of 10 adult Pteropus skulls and skins (MZB 2182, 
2184, 2189-96) collected by Mrs Walsh, on 3 
February 1929 from Soe, West Timor, at an altitude 
of 880 m and one (MZB 9208) from Komodo Island. 
These specimens appeared to have been 
overlooked by previous workers. The Timor 
specimens are of particular interest because they 
are a small bat (forearm 109-115 mm) but with 
pelage and skull and body dimensions allied to, 
but differing, from both P. griseus and P. temmincki; 
they clearly do not represent the much larger P. 
pselaphon. This paper reports on an examination of 
the taxonomic status of these MZB specimens and 
compares their morphology to P. lombocensis, P. 
griseus and P. temmincki. 
MATERIALS AND METHODS 
Ten adult skulls and 'cabinet skins' (Id, 92 2) in 
the MZB series of Pteropus from Timor Island 
(2182-97) were measured and compared with the 
following specimens (all currently lodged in the 
Western Australian Museum). P. griseus griseus, 
Panite, W. Timor Island (9°50'S, 124°29’E), Id, 
(WAM M34858); Uiasa, Semau Island (10°10'S, 
123°28'E), 2d d (WAM 35592-3); Baa, Roti Island 
(10°46’S, 123°16'E), 4dd 12, (WAM M35400, 
M35405-57, M35420); Ipokil, Wetar Island (7°50'S, 
126°16'E), Id (WAM M44679). P. griseus pallidus 
Temminck, 1825, Banda Neira Island (4°31'S, 
129°50'E), 3d d 322 1 ? sex (WAM M42004-7, 
M42377, M42381, M42393). P. temmincki temmincki, 
Amboinea, Ambon Island (3°41'S, 128°10'E), 2dd 
12, (WAM M43130-31, M43900); Solea, Gunung 
Manusela, Seram Island (2°53'S, 129°32’E), 3d d, 
(WAM M34520-22) and P. lombocensis lombocensis 
and P. /. heudei listed in Kitchener et al. (1995a). 
The measurements were recorded only from 
adults. These measurements were the same as 
those reported in Kitchener et. al (1995a), with two 
additional measurements. These were maximum 
diameter of the orbit and dentary coronoid height. 
Only forearm length was measured from the 
external body. This was because this was the only 
measurement from the skins of tire MZB specimens 
that was comparable to the external preserved 
specimens. Only skull, dentary and dental 
measurements were used in the statistical 
comparison of the MZB specimens with the others. 
