A new species and sub-species of fruit-bats (Pteropus) from the Santa Cruz Group
Abstract
During a collecting expedition amongst some of the islands of the Santa Cruz Group from July to August, 1926, when Mr. A. A. Livingstone and myself had the good fortune to be guests of Mr. N. S. Heffernan, then District Officer of the Group, a very interesting collection of fruit-bats representing three species was obtained. Apart from the historical importance of Vanikoro Island because of the loss there in 1788 of La Pérouse's two ships, great zoological interest attaches to the fateful spot owing to the visitation of the famous naturalists Quoy and Gaimard, the first to make scientific observations and collections in that region. Their collections were naturally very incomplete and also subject to considerable confusion, as later researches in various branches have shown, doubtless owing to the conditions of work and storage aboard the "Astrolabe," as well as to the fact that the range of individual forms would not then be considered of so much importance.
