EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Each week a different image of our fascinating environment is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional ecologist.

 28 January - 3 February 2008

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Flying Foxes
on the Wing

Spectacled Flying Fox (Pteropus conspicillatus)
Queensland, Australia

Credit & Copyright: Dr. Bruce G. Marcot

Explanation:   Sporting a head and body length of up to 24 cm (9 inches) and weighing up to 850 grams (2.2 pounds), these massive bats are spectacled flying foxes of northern Queensland, Australia, and adjacent New Guinea.  

They roost in the thousands by day, and by night fly out to the rainforests in search of pale-colored fruit.  

On their roosts and at feeding sites they jostle with territoriality and aggression.  

As they also feed on flowers, they perform an important ecological service as a key pollinator and disperser of rainforest plants.   








 

Next week's picture:  Bringing Back the Condor

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