The Pteropodidae encompass a diverse assemblage of fruit-eating bats, represented by over 30 species in mainland Africa (Happold and Happold 2013, Nesi et al. 2013, Hassanin et al. 2015), of which 21 species in 11 genera occur in southern Africa. The only mainland genera not recorded in southern Africa are Nanonycteris and Scotonycteris, which are restricted within the rainforest zone. Nevertheless, museum records of Scotonycteris bergmansi Matschie 1894 mapped by Bergmans (1990) extend nearly to 4°S in the Congo basin. So, it is likely that S. bergmansi occurs in our area, if not resident, then possibly as a migrant.

Furthermore, several species of Pteropus breed on islands in the Indian Ocean, some very close to the mainland (at Pemba and Zanzibar).

The Pteropodidae are a distinctive group, readily distinguished from other bats by the possession of two claws on the wing (all other bats have only one wing claw, which is the homologue of our thumb) (Figure 43b). Traditionally, they are also viewed as being larger than ‘microbats’, but this is not always so. For example, at 13 g, the diminutive pteropodid Megaloglossus woermanni is smaller than many ‘microbat‘ species. However, it is true that the largest bats belong to this family. In Africa, Hypsignathus and Eidolon may have forearm lengths of over 120 mm, and a large male of the former can exceed 400 g. By comparison, the largest ‘microbats’ weigh less than 200 g. The other typical features of the Pteropodidae are their dog-like faces with elongated muzzles and large eyes (Figure 43a), and their diet of fruit. In contrast to the ‘microbats’, eyesight is important in the Pteropodidae – they rely on this sensory organ for perception of their environment. A distinctive form of echolocation has developed in only one genus, Rousettus (Neuweiler 1990).

Associations between food plants and fruit bats, worldwide, are important to the dispersal and reproduction of many species of tropical angiosperms. In the Usambara Mountains, Tanzania, where at least seven species of pteropids occur, approximately 20% of the submontane tree flora is bat-dispersed (Seltzer et al. 2013). Globally, fruit bats are known to pollinate at least 528 species of flowering plants (Fleming et al. 2009). In Africa, the pollination of selected plants by fruit bats has been studied in West African fruit bats only (Rosevear 1965).