 This supposed species was known as the "Torresian flying fox" or "Moa Island fruit bat".The black flying fox has short, black hair with a contrasting reddish-brown mantle, and a mean forearm length of 164 mm (6.46 in) and a mean weight of 710 g (1.57 lb).It is one of the largest bat species in the world, and has a wingspan of more than 1 m.

Black flying foxes are native to Australia (New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia), Papua New Guinea (Western Province) and Indonesia (West Papua, Sulawesi, Sumba, and Savu).