) and D. inermis minimus (
). For names of islands see [Fig. 2].
Table 2. Average and Extreme Measurements of Two Subspecies of Dobsonia inermis.
| Measurement | D. i. minimus | D. i. inermis | ||||||||||
| Choiseul 4 ♂, 2 ♀ | Santa Ysabel 1 ♂, 2 ♀ | Guadalcanal, Fauro, Vella Lavella, Florida 9 ♂, 2 ♀ | ||||||||||
| Length of head and body | 174.5 | (170 | - | 180) | .......... | 174.5 | (160 | - | 190) | |||
| Tail vertebrae | 28.5 | ( 24 | - | 33) | 23.0 | (21.5 | - | 24.0) | 30.4 | (25 | - | 35) |
| Hind foot | 25.3 | (25.1 | - | 25.9) | 23.5 | (23.5 | - | 24.0) | 29.3 | (26.0 | - | 31.6) |
| Ear | 21.5 | (21.0 | - | 22.9) | 21.1 | (21.0 | - | 21.5) | 23.1 | (19 | - | 25) |
| Length of forearm | 100.5 | (98.1 | - | 104.0) | 105.3 | (104 | - | 107) | 108.4 | (105 | - | 112) |
| 2nd metacarpal | 43.6 | (42.6 | - | 45.2) | .......... | 48.1 | (45.9 | - | 50.9) | |||
| 3rd metacarpal | 61.5 | (59.8 | - | 62.9) | .......... | 67.6 | (65.2 | - | 68.5) | |||
| 4th metacarpal | 57.5 | (56.5 | - | 58.5) | .......... | 62.5 | (58.7 | - | 65.5) | |||
| 5th metacarpal | 59.0 | (57.0 | - | 60.5) | .......... | 64.4 | (61.8 | - | 66.0) | |||
| Greatest length of skull | 42.4 | (42.1 | - | 43.5) | 44.0 | (43.0 | - | 45.6) | 45.9 | (45.2 | - | 47.4) |
| Condylobasal length | 40.4 | (39.5 | - | 41.3) | 41.7 | (41.1 | - | 42.6) | 43.6 | (43.1 | - | 45.0) |
| Zygomatic breadth | 25.6 | (24.9 | - | 26.8) | 26.5 | (25.7 | - | 27.6) | 27.9 | (27.2 | - | 28.5) |
| Breadth of braincase | 16.8 | (16.5 | - | 17.4) | 18.0 | (17.1 | - | 19.9) | 17.9 | (16.7 | - | 19.0) |
| Breadth across upper canines | 8.4 | (8.1 | - | 8.7) | .......... | 9.2 | (9.2 | - | 9.5) | |||
| Breadth across first upper molars | 12.1 | (11.8 | - | 12.6) | .......... | 13.1 | (12.6 | - | 13.3) | |||
| Length of maxillary tooth-row | 15.6 | (15.5 | - | 15.8) | 16.4 | (16.0 | - | 17.2) | 16.4 | (15.9 | - | 17.0) |
| Length of mandibular tooth-row | 17.1 | (16.8 | - | 17.6) | 17.8 | (17.3 | - | 18.4) | 18.2 | (17.8 | - | 19.4) |
Measurements.—Comparative measurements of the subspecies inermis and minimus are given in [Table 2]. Some measurements of the type are as follows: Length of head and body, 147; tail vertebrae, 31; hind foot, 25; ear, 21; length of forearm, 99.5; 2nd metacarpal, 42.8; 3rd metacarpal, 62.7; 4th metacarpal, 58.5; 5th metacarpal, 59.1; greatest length of skull, 42.2; condylobasal length, 40.6; zygomatic breadth, 25.8; breadth of braincase, 16.8; length of maxillary tooth-row, 15.8; length of mandible, 31.2.
Remarks.—Dobsonia inermis minimus is the smallest subspecies of Dobsonia inermis. Specimens from Santa Ysabel, southeastward of Choiseul, are slightly larger than the type and paratypes of minimus. As can be seen in the scatter diagram ([Fig. 8]), a male from Santa Ysabel is as large as one male and most females of D. i. inermis. The other three specimens from Santa Ysabel also are slightly larger than specimens of minimus from Choiseul, but are much smaller than specimens of D. i. inermis, and, therefore, are referred to D. i. minimus.