African elephant vs large flying fox

Loxodonta africana compared with Pteropus vampyrus

Key Differences

• African elephant is Vulnerable while large flying fox is Near Threatened.
• African elephant is 5454.5x heavier than large flying fox.
• African elephant lives longer (65 years vs 15 years).

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	African elephant	large flying fox
Kingdom same	Animalia (動物)	Animalia (動物)
Phylum same	Chordata (脊索動物)	Chordata (脊索動物)
Class same	Mammalia (哺乳類)	Mammalia (哺乳類)
Order	Proboscidea (ゾウ目)	Chiroptera (翼手目)
Family	Elephantidae (Elephants)	Pteropodidae (Fruit Bats)
Genus	Loxodonta (African Elephants)	Pteropus (Flying Foxes)
Species	Loxodonta africana	Pteropus vampyrus

Evolutionary Relationship

African elephant and large flying fox share a common ancestor at the Class level: Mammalia. (哺乳類)

Conservation Status

African elephant

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~415.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

large flying fox

NT — Near Threatened

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	African elephant	large flying fox
Diet	Herbivore	Herbivore
Average Lifespan	65 years	15 years
Average Length	6.0 m	30 cm
Average Weight	6.0 t	1.1 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

African elephant

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 5 distinct biome types within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Found in Kenya. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

large flying fox

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 6 distinct biome types spanning the Australasia and Indomalayan realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

African elephant

地球上最大の陸上動物であるアフリカゾウは体重7,000 kgに達し、サハラ以南のサバンナ、森林、湿地に生息する。成熟した雌が群れを率いる高度に知的な社会構造を持ち、超低周波音やうなり声、接触によって意思疎通する。木を引き倒したり水飲み場を掘ったり種子を散布したりすることで生態系を形成するエンジニア種だが、象牙の密猟や生息地の喪失により個体数は減少しており、危急（VU）とされている。

large flying fox

世界最大のコウモリ種で、翼開長は最大1.5メートルに達し、東南アジアからフィリピン・インドネシアにかけての熱帯林に生息する。その名に反して果実と花蜜のみを食べ、熱帯林の樹木にとって不可欠な花粉媒介者・種子散布者となっている。数千頭もの巨大なコロニーでねぐらを作る。食用のための狩猟と生息地破壊により絶滅危惧種に指定されている。