An introduction to the study of mammals living and extinct / by William Henry Flower and Richard Lydekker.

Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An introduction to the study of mammals living and extinct / by William Henry Flower and Richard Lydekker. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    aginous process derived from the calcar) may act as a kmd of adhesive disc in securing the animal's grasp when climbing over smooth surfaces. Vespenigo probal^ly contains the greatest number of individuals among the genera of Chiroptera, and, with the excep- tion of Vespertilio, its species have also the widest geogi'aphical range, being almost cosmopolitan; and one of the species, the well- known Serotine {F. [Fcsjyerus] serotinus) is remarkable as the only species of Bat known to inhabit both the Old and the New World ; one (F. borealis) has been found close to the limits of the Arctic circle, and another (F. mageUankus) inhabits the cold and desolate shores of the Straits of Magellan, being doubtless the Bat referred to by Mr. Darwin in the Naturalist's Foyage. The Common 1 ipis- trelle (F.pipistrellus), ranging over the greater part of the Palaearctic region, is the best known species. v , . i Chalinolohts.^—This genus agrees with Fesperugo in the dental formula, but is readily distinguished by the presence of a well- defined lobe projecting near the angle of the mouth from the lower lip, and by the unicuspidate first upper incisor. The species fall into two suhgmev^-Chalinolohns proper, with^; f, represented by a rtiorio from New Zealand, Tasmania, and Australia, and three other species from Australia; and Glauconyderis, vnth p ^, imited to Southern and Equatorial Africa, and known by C. argentaius and two other species, the Bats of this subgenus being especiaUy remark- able for their peculiarly thin membranes, traversed by very distinct reticulations and parallel lines. , ^ + i on T>i^« Scotophilus.^~-J)entition: i h h P h §5 ^tal 30. ihis genus comprises a comparatively small number of species near y allied to Fesperugo, and some of which approach so closely to the aberrant types of the latter ranged under the subgenus Scotozmis, as to render the definition of the present genus A almost impossible.^^ The species are restricted to the tropical and subtropical regions of the eastern hemisphere, though Avidely distributed within these limits. The more typical species Fig. 30s.-Head ot Scoto- ^re distinguished especially by the single pan- pMiuscmarginatus. (Dobson, , unicuspidate upper incisors separated by a Asiat. aurct.) ^^.^^ ^^^^^i ^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^,,ij,es, by the small transverse first lower premolar ^^^^^^^.^^^ in betwee^^^^^ canine and second premolar, and, generally, by then ^^^^^''f^^ naked muzzles and remarkably thick leathery membranes^ SAM is probably the commonest species of Bat in India, and appeal, often on the wing even before the sun has touched the houzon, 1 Peters, Mmmtshcr. Ak. Berlin, 1866, p. 672. 2 Leach, Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. xiii. p. 71 (1822). 3 See 0. Thomas, Ann. Mus. Geneva (2), vol. ix. pp.84-88 (1890).