Common seabird tick vs Comoro Flying Fox

Ixodes uriae compared with Pteropus livingstonii

Key Differences

• Common seabird tick is Not Evaluated while Comoro Flying Fox is Critically Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common seabird tick	Comoro Flying Fox
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Arachnida (Arachnids)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Ixodida (Ixodida)	Chiroptera (Bats)
Family	Ixodidae	Pteropodidae (Fruit Bats)
Genus	Ixodes	Pteropus (Flying Foxes)
Species	Ixodes uriae	Pteropus livingstonii

Evolutionary Relationship

Common seabird tick and Comoro Flying Fox share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Common seabird tick

NE — Not Evaluated

Comoro Flying Fox

CR — Critically Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common seabird tick	Comoro Flying Fox
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common seabird tick

Habitat

Typically found in terrestrial habitats from forests to deserts.

Range

Distributed across Norway and Sweden.

Comoro Flying Fox

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Common seabird tick

<em>Ixodes uriae</em>, the common seabird tick, is a hard tick in the family Ixodidae, order Ixodida, distributed across subarctic and subantarctic regions with records from Norway and Sweden. This species is an obligate ectoparasite that specializes in feeding on colonial seabirds, including auks, penguins, and petrels, making it one of the few tick species with a genuinely circumpolar distribution tied to its avian hosts. <em>Ixodes uriae</em> typically infests birds in their nesting colonies, where dense aggregations and repeated site fidelity by hosts facilitate transmission. Beyond its direct parasitic impact, this tick serves as a vector for various pathogens, including Borrelia spirochetes and tick-borne encephalitis-related viruses, making it of scientific interest for disease ecology in seabird populations. The species has not been formally evaluated by the IUCN, and its conservation status remains Not Evaluated. Biological traits for this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature, including comprehensive data on average lifespan under natural conditions, body dimensions across life stages, weight, and the full range of its host and pathogen associations.

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.