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.

    692/788 (page 672)
    It bus been snggested tbat remains from the Ui^per Eocene Phos- phorites of Central France may indicate the existence of the genus Ta].)hozous at that early epoch. Family Phyllostomatid^. Middle finger with three well-develoiDed bony phalanges; first phalanx of the middle finger short; nostrils in the front part of the cutaneous nasal appendages, or opening ])y simple apertures at the extremity of the muzzle; chin Avith warts or erect cutaneous ridges ; premaxillte well developed, united in front. The members of this family are readily distinguished by the third phalanx in the middle finger, associated either with distinct cutaneous nasal appendages, or with well-developed first upper incisors, or with both. Unlike the RMnoloiyhklce, their eyes are generally large; and the tragus is well developed, maintaining almost the same form throughout the species, however much the other parts of the body may vary. The fur is of a dull colour, and the face and back (in the Stenodermaiine division especially) are often marked with, white streaks, as in the Pteropodidce, of which these Bats take the place in the western hemisphere. A few species, probably all those with the tail and interfemoral membrane well developed, feed principally on insects, while the greater number of the species of the Fampirine and Glossophagine divisions appear to live on a mixed diet of insects and fruits; and the Desmodontim division, of which two species only are Imown, are true blood- suckers, and have their teeth and intestinal tract specially modified in accordance with theii' habits. The family is restricted to the tropical and subtropical parts of Central and South America. Subfamily Chilonyeteriinse.—Nostrils opening by simple aper- tures at the extremity of the muzzle in front, not margined by a distinct nose- leaf ; chin wath expanded leaf-like appendages. It includes two genera. Chilonyctens}—Dentition: ih<^hPh J total 34. The crovra of the head is moderately elevated above (Dobson, j^^^.^^ ^jj^g^ ^j^^j ijasi- cranial axis is almost in the same plane as the facial. There are about half a dozen species. S.2—The two species of this genus are distniguished Fio. 31S.—Head of Mornwps Uainvillei. Cat. CUropt. Brit. Mus.) Mormops. 1 Gray, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. ir. p. 4 (1839). ••i Leach, rra^i^. Linn.Soc. vol. xiii. p. 76 (1820-22).-Amended.