Key to Genera
| 1. | Uropatagium lacking, or, if present, deeply indented in center; tail vertebrae absent, or if present, free |
| 2 | |
| 1'. | Uropatagium present, not indented; tail vertebrae present, free or in uropatagium |
| MICROCHIROPTERA 1 | |
| 2(1). | External tail-vertebrae lacking, or, if present, less than 3 mm long |
| 3 | |
| 2'. | External tail-vertebrae more than 3 mm long |
| 6 | |
| 3(2). | Small or medium-sized (forearm less than 50); tongue long, extensile |
| 4 | |
| 3'. | Large (forearm more than 80); tongue not long and extensile |
| 5 | |
| 4(3). | Uropatagium present; small claw present on second phalanx of second digit; tail short (about 3 mm) |
| Macroglossus, [p. 812] | |
| 4'. | Uropatagium absent; no claw on second phalanx of second digit; no tail |
| Melonycteris, [p. 814] | |
| 5(3'). | Entire back set with hair; wing membranes not meeting at middle of back |
| Pteropus, [p. 793] | |
| 5'. | Back naked; wing membranes meeting at middle of back, |
| Pteralopex, [p. 790] | |
| 6(2'). | Nostrils having definite tubelike extensions |
| Nyctimene, [p. 817] | |
| 6'. | Nostrils lacking tubelike extensions |
| 7 | |
| 7(6'). | Forearm less than 80; large, sharp claw on second phalanx of second digit; four upper incisors |
| Rousettus, [p. 787] | |
| 7'. | Forearm more than 90; small, blunt claw on second phalanx of second digit; two upper incisors |
| Dobsonia, [p. 807] | |
Family PTEROPODIDAE
Subfamily Pteropodinae
Rousettus Gray
1821. Rousettus Gray, London Medical Repository, 15:299, April 1.
1843. Xantharpyia Gray, List of species ... British Museum, p. 37.
1852. Cynonycteris Peters, Reise nach Mossambique, p. 25.
The genus Rousettus occurs throughout the tropical regions of the Old World, and in the Solomons is readily distinguished from all other megachiropteran genera by having both a small claw on the second digit and free caudal vertebrae. The oriental species have been divided into two groups on the basis of size (Tate, 1942:344). The subspecies Rousettus amplexicaudatus hedigeri appears to be the sole representative of this genus in the Solomon Islands. Prior to 1953, several workers (Thomas, 1887b:323, 1888b:475; Matschie, 1899:68; Sanborn, 1931:11) used the name Rousettus amplexicaudatus brachyotis for it, but Pohle (1953) suggested that the specimens from the Solomons recorded by earlier workers were R. a. hedigeri named by him on the basis of the specimen that he saw from Bougainville.
Rousettus amplexicaudatus