Several species of Long-tailed Bats, peculiar to the Eastern hemisphere, have been formed into the genus Miniopterus, which differs from all the preceding forms by having the crown of the head abruptly and very considerably raised from the face, and the upper incisors in pairs separated not only from each other, but from the canines. They have the ears separate, with their outer margins extending forward nearly to the opening of the mouth; the nostrils simple; the first phalanx of the second finger very short; and the tail as long as the head and body, and entirely enclosed within the interfemoral membrane.
Schreibers’ Bat, the type of this genus, is very remarkable for its extraordinary geographical range; for, according to the determinations of Messrs. Tomes and Dobson, it extends from Japan through the Eastern Archipelago to Australia, and westward of these localities through Burmah and Ceylon to Asia Minor, and thence into Southern Europe. It is also generally distributed in Africa, and occurs in Madagascar. On the continent of Europe it is found as far north as Switzerland and Lower Austria.
The species varies considerably in the colour of its fur. The basal half of the hairs is always dark, either brown, greyish-black, or black, with the extremities sometimes of nearly the same tint, but generally lighter, varying from a light grey, even becoming whitish on the lower surface, to reddish-grey and reddish-brown. Specimens from tropical localities are generally dark in colour. The ears are much shorter than the head, and sweep almost completely round the eye (whence the name of “blepotis” was given to the Eastern form by M. Temminck), terminating near the angle of the mouth in a small square-ended lobe. The tragus is much shorter than the ear, about twice as long as broad, and rounded at the tip. The total length of this Bat is about four inches, half of which goes to the head and body, and the remainder to the tail. Schreibers’ Bat is an inhabitant of caves. It was originally obtained from the caverns of the Banat, but occurs generally throughout Southern Europe. In the East it is also said by M. Temminck to find a retreat in caves and clefts in the rocks. It is very common in Java, but rarely appears in the open country.[209]
THE BROWN PIG BAT.[210]
This is another of the forms occupying the border-land between the families of Vespertilionidæ and Emballonuridæ, and assisting to unite the whole of the simple-nosed Insectivorous Bats in one great series. In the form of the head, and in the dentition, it resembles especially Natalus and Furia. The wing-membranes are continued down the toes to the base of the claws; the tail is long, and enclosed, except the last joint, in the interfemoral membrane, which is supported by long heel-spurs, beyond which there are membranous lobes; and the thumbs are free and clawed, and, like the soles of the feet, furnished with curious adhesive discs. The toes consist of only two phalanges each, as in the genus Phyllorhina. The genus was described by MM. Lichtenstein and Peters under the name of Hyonycteris (Pig Bat), in allusion to the elongated and truncated form of the muzzle, which has somewhat of a Pig-like aspect.
FOOT AND THUMB OF THE
BROWN PIG BAT, ENLARGED.
(From the Proceedings of the
Zoological Society.)
The singular adhesive organs mentioned above as occurring on the thumbs and feet of this Bat, are described in considerable detail by Mr. Dobson in the “Proceedings of the Zoological Society.” He remarks that they constitute the only known instance of the possession by Mammals of prehensile organs at all resembling the sucking-discs of the Cephalopodous mollusca. “On the inferior surface of the thumb,” he says, “from the base of the first phalanx, ... corresponding to the position of the ball of the thumb in other Bats, arises, by a short peduncle, a hollow suctorial disc about one-tenth of an inch in diameter. On the sole of the foot a similar but considerably smaller disc is placed, not in the same relative position, however, as in the thumb; for it covers the metatarsal bones, not the bases of the first phalanges of the toes.” According to a Spanish writer, Señor Jimenez de la Espada, these discs were used by the animal to fasten itself to the fingers as it tried to bite, producing the same feeling as a key or thimble when applied to the tongue after sucking out the air; and it is added, “the muscular arrangement is such as to allow the animal to vary the diameter of the organ; and by their means the animals attached themselves to the sides of the box in which they are kept, although, when sleeping, they suspended themselves by the claws like other Bats.” Mr. Dobson, however, by careful examination of the structure of the discs, convinced himself that the Spanish zoologist was mistaken in ascribing any muscular arrangements to these curious organs, which consist exclusively of an unusual development of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, amongst which a radiating cartilaginous structure probably gave rise to the notion of a special muscular apparatus. Mr. Dobson indicates further that the discs of the feet are supplemented by several small projections from the hinder border of the heel-spur, which are known to occur in no other species of Bat, and he regards the whole of these peculiarities as indicating that the animal is specially adapted for climbing, like the New Zealand Bat (Mystacina tuberculata), and that in all probability both these species are in the habit of capturing the insects on which they feed while crawling over the branches of trees.[211]
The Brown Pig Bat (Thyroptera tricolor) is an inhabitant of South and Central America. Its head and body are rather more than an inch and a half long, and the tail about an inch and a quarter. The fur is of a cinnamon-brown colour, paler beneath, and the wings dusky brown.[212]