Pteropus
Taxonomy and etymology

The genus name Pteropus was coined by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1762. Prior to 1998, genus authority was sometimes given to German naturalist Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben. Although the Brisson publication (1762) predated the Erxleben publication (1777), thus giving him preference under the Principle of Priority, some authors gave preference to Erxleben as genus authority because Brisson's publication did not consistently use binomial nomenclature. In 1998, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) decided that Brisson's 1762 publication was a "rejected work" for nomenclatural purposes. Despite rejecting the majority of the publication, the ICZN decided to conserve a dozen generic names from the work and retain Brisson as authority, including Pteropus.

The type species of the genus is the Mauritian flying fox, Pteropus niger (described as Vespertilio vampyrus niger by Robert Kerr in 1792). The decision to designate P. niger as the type species was made by the ICZN through their plenary powers over biological nomenclature. " Pteropus " comes from Ancient Greek pterón meaning "wing" and poús meaning "foot." The phrase "flying fox" has been used to refer to Pteropus bats since at least 1759.
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