Asian swordfern vs Comoro Flying Fox

Nephrolepis brownii compared with Pteropus livingstonii

Key Differences

• Asian swordfern is Not Evaluated while Comoro Flying Fox is Critically Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Asian swordfern	Comoro Flying Fox
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Tracheophyta	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Polypodiopsida (Polypodiopsida)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Polypodiales (Polypodiales)	Chiroptera (Bats)
Family	Nephrolepidaceae	Pteropodidae (Fruit Bats)
Genus	Nephrolepis	Pteropus (Flying Foxes)
Species	Nephrolepis brownii	Pteropus livingstonii

Conservation Status

Asian swordfern

NE — Not Evaluated

Comoro Flying Fox

CR — Critically Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Asian swordfern	Comoro Flying Fox
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Asian swordfern

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Singapore, Taiwan), North America (4 countries), and South America (Brazil, Colombia).

Comoro Flying Fox

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Asian swordfern

The Asian swordfern (Nephrolepis brownii) is a species in the genus Nephrolepis. Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies. Widely distributed across Asia (Singapore, Taiwan), North America (4 countries), and South America (Brazil, Colombia).

Comoro Flying Fox

<em>Pteropus livingstonii</em>, the Comoro flying fox or Livingstone's fruit bat, is a large fruit bat in the family Pteropodidae, endemic to the Comoro Islands in the western Indian Ocean, where it is restricted to Anjouan and Mohéli. It is one of the largest bats in the world, with a wingspan that can exceed one meter and a body weight reportedly ranging between 400–700 g. The species roosts colonially in tall native forest trees, particularly in humid upland forest fragments, and feeds on a variety of native fruits, nectar, and pollen, playing a critical role as a seed disperser and pollinator in Comoran forest ecosystems. Precise average lifespan data in the wild remain poorly documented, though captive individuals have lived over 20 years. <em>Pteropus livingstonii</em> is assessed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN, making it one of the most threatened bat species in the world. Primary threats include extensive deforestation driven by agricultural expansion and charcoal production, which has severely reduced suitable roosting and foraging habitat, along with historic hunting. Conservation efforts include habitat protection, community education programs, and captive breeding initiatives at several European zoos coordinated through an international species survival program.