1870. Pteropus rayneri (part), Gray, Catalogue of monkeys, lemurs and fruit-eating bats ... British Museum, p. 108, from San Cristobal; 1878, Dobson, Catalogue of the Chiroptera ... British Museum, p. 33.
1904. Pteropus (Spectrum) rayneri (part), Trouessart, Catalogus Mammalium ..., Suppl., p. 51.
Specimens examined.—None.
Remarks.—Specimens of Pteropus rayneri cognatus first were reported under the name Pteropus rayneri based on three specimens (one from San Cristobal and two from Guadalcanal). Because the description was based mostly on the two specimens from Guadalcanal, the name rayneri is applicable to the bats from that island. Andersen (1908:365) thought that specimens that he studied, from San Cristobal, were specifically distinct from P. rayneri and he proposed the name Pteropus cognatus for them. Later, Hill (1962:9) reduced cognatus to subspecific status under P. rayneri.
Presently P. r. cognatus is known only from San Cristobal and the small adjacent island of Ugi (see [Fig. 6]).
Pteropus rayneri rennelli Troughton
1929. Pteropus rennelli Troughton, Rec. Australian Mus., 17:193, September 4, type from Rennell Island; 1954, Laurie and Hill, List of land mammals of New Guinea, Celebes and adjacent islands, p. 35, June 30.
1962. Pteropus rayneri rennelli, Hill, The natural history of Rennell Island, British Solomon Islands, 4:7, February.
Specimens examined.—None.
Remarks.—Until recently, Pteropus rayneri rennelli was known from but a single specimen. Hill (1962:7) reported two additional specimens and pointed out that P. r. cognatus and P. r. rennelli probably represent the extremes of an east-west cline in size. P. r. rennelli and P. r. cognatus differ from other subspecies of the species in lacking tricolored pelage on the dorsum, but their short rostrum clearly indicates affinity with other members of this complex group in the Solomon Islands (Hill, 1962:8).