1860. _Pteropus geddiei_ MacGillivary, Zoologist, 18:7134, September, type from Aneitum Island, New Hebrides; 1912, Andersen, Catalogue of the Chiroptera ... British Museum, 1:189; 1931, Sanborn, Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Zool. Ser., 18:13, February 12, from Rennell Island in the Solomons.
1914. _Pteropus tonganus geddiei_, Revilliod, _in_ Sarasin and Roux, Nova Caledonia (A), 1:341; 1954, Laurie and Hill, List of land mammals of New Guinea, Celebes and adjacent islands, p. 34, June 30.
_Remarks._--_Pteropus tonganus geddiei_, as far as is known, is the widest ranging subspecies of this genus. It is the only megachiropteran in the Solomon Islands having affinities with bats to the southeast (the New Hebrides, Santa Cruz Islands, Samoan Islands and Fiji Islands) rather than with those to the west (New Guinea). The subspecies _P. tonganus geddiei_, which ranges from the Solomons to the New Hebrides (about 500 miles straight-line distance), is said to be remarkably uniform throughout its range. Sanborn (1931:14) compared color and size in specimens from the Solomon Islands and the New Hebrides and found little variation. Another subspecies, _P. t. bascilicus_ Thomas 1915, apparently closely related to _geddiei_, is known from Dampier [= Kar-kar] Island off the northeastern coast of New Guinea and therefore farther westward from the New Hebrides than are the Solomon Islands. Additional remarks on the distribution of this species are in the section on Zoogeography and Speciation.
_Pteropus rayneri_ is endemic to the Solomon Islands. It is divisible into seven subspecies (see Fig. 6), which, excepting _P. r. rennelli_ and _P. r. cognatus_, are strikingly colored--the mantle, back, and rump being of different colors. Differences in color and size provide characters differentiating the subspecies (see key, p. 793). Recorded lengths of forearms do not overlap between any two subspecies. _P. r. grandis_, northernmost in distribution, has the longest (about 170) forearm and _P. r. cognatus_, known from two of the southernmost islands, has the shortest (about 121).
[Illustration: FIG. 6. Distribution of _Pteropus rayneri_: _P. r. rayneri_ ([RTW]); _P. r. grandis_ ([RW]); _P. r. lavellanus_ ([BC]); _P. r. monoensis_ ([BW]); _P. r. rubianus_ ([TW]); _P. r. cognatus_ ([LW]); _P. r. rennelli_ ([LTW]). For names of islands see Fig. 2.]