# Small flying fox (*Pteropus hypomelanus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/small-flying-fox  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The small flying fox (Pteropus hypomelanus) is a species in the family Pteropodidae, order Chiroptera. Recorded adults weigh 425 g to 450 g and live up to 20.2 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 425 g – 450 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 20.2 years |
| Diet | Frugivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 20.3 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | Not recorded |
| Gestation | 156 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months – 12.4 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Active | At night (nocturnal) |
| Lifestyle | Arboreal |
| Conservation status | Near Threatened (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | 1 country |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Chiroptera
- family: Pteropodidae
- genus: Pteropus
- species: *Pteropus hypomelanus* Temminck, 1853

Synonyms: *Pteropus tricolor*, *Pteropus vulcanius*

## Countries on record

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

Australia

## Common questions

### How big is the small flying fox?

An adult small flying fox weighs 425 g – 450 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

### Where does the small flying fox live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the small flying fox for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

### Is the small flying fox endangered?

The small flying fox is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.

### How long does the small flying fox live?

The small flying fox has a recorded lifespan of 20.2 years.

### How long is the small flying fox pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 156 days.

### What kind of animal is the small flying fox?

The small flying fox (Pteropus hypomelanus) belongs to the family Pteropodidae in the order Chiroptera.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), CC0 1.0, 1.0. Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Small flying fox (Pteropus hypomelanus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/small-flying-fox