Measurements.—Measurements of three males and one female are, respectively, as follows: Length of head and body, —, 210, 214, 215; hind foot, —, 33, 39, 42; ear, —, 23, 23, 23; length of forearm, —, 138, 136, 134; greatest length of skull, 61.5, 59.2, 61.6, 61.2; condylobasal length, 61.4, 58.2, 60.3, 60.0; zygomatic breadth, 36.6, 35.3, 35.4, 36.5; breadth of braincase, 23.7, 22.5, 22.6, 24.1; breadth across first upper molars, —, 16.9, 16.7, 16.8; width of M1, 3.4, 3.5, 3.5, 3.5; length of maxillary tooth-row, 22.4, 22.1, 23.6, 23.2; length of mandibular tooth-row, 26.4, 25.5, 25.9, 25.6.
Remarks.—Pteropus rayneri was named on the basis of two specimens (cotypes) obtained on Guadalcanal and listed as "male" and "female"; according to Andersen (1912:254), however, both are females.
P. r. rayneri is known from Guadalcanal and Malaita (see [Fig. 6]), and is of almost the same size as P. r. cognatus, which is known from San Cristobal and Ugi, only about 40 miles to the southeast. In the latter subspecies the back and rump are the same color (Prouts Brown), whereas in P. r. rayneri the rump is brightly colored and therefore contrasts strongly with the dark brown back. A specimen of rayneri from Malaita was reported by Sanborn (1931:15) as unusually small and having a dark-colored rump patch. In the specimens examined from Guadalcanal, there is noticeable variation in color of the mantle that does not seem related to age or sex. In two specimens (adult male and female) the mantle is Cinnamon-Rufous tinged with Russet, strongly contrasting with the crown, which is Ochraceous-Tawny and has scattered silvery hairs. Another specimen has a darker mantle (near Chestnut-Brown) and a crown of about the same color, but with a few scattered Ochraceous-Tawny hairs.
The skull of one adult male bears an extra peglike tooth posterior to M3 on the right side.
An embryo, in an advanced stage of development, in the collection of the U. S. National Museum, measures: Length of head and body, 98; hind foot, 30; ear, 8.5; length of forearm, 48 (this may be the same specimen listed by Sanborn and Nicholson, 1950:329).
Pteropus rayneri grandis Thomas
1887. Pteropus grandis Thomas, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 5, 19:147, March, type from Shortland; 1887, Thomas, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 320, March 15, from Alu and Shortland; 1897, Trouessart, Catalogus Mammalium ..., 1:80, from "I. Salomonis"; 1899, Matschie, Die Megachiroptera ... naturkunde, p. 15; 1904, Trouessart, Catalogus Mammalium ..., Suppl., p. 49; 1907, Miller, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 57:58, June 29; 1912, Andersen, Catalogue of the Chiroptera ... British Museum, 1:259, from Bougainville; 1931, Sanborn, Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Zool. Ser., 18:16, February 12, from Choiseul, and Santa Ysabel; 1936, Troughton, Rec. Australian Mus., 19:348, April 7; 1953, Pohle, Z. Säugetierk., 17:128, October 27.
1954. Pteropus rayneri grandis, Laurie and Hill, List of land mammals of New Guinea, Celebes and adjacent islands, p. 35, June 30.
Specimens examined (six males and 10 females; five in alcohol).—Choiseul in March, 23580, 23644, 23593; Bougainville in July, August, September, and October, USNM 276926-7, USNM 276968, USNM 277091-9.