HEAD OF STRAW-COLOURED BAT.
(From the Proceedings of
the Zoological Society.)
In this curious little Bat, as in Furipterus and Miniopterus, which with it form the links of connection between the two families of simple-nosed Insectivorous Bats, the crown of the head is also much elevated and separated from the muzzle by a strong depression. The nostrils are placed quite at the tip of the nose, and close to the upper lip (see [figure, p. 312]), the chin has a semicircular double row of warts, the ears are large, broad, somewhat pointed at the tip, which is turned outwards, so as to make the outer margin appear excavated, whilst below it sweeps round upon the side of the face as a free lobe, and the tragus, which is short, broad, and fleshy, rises from the end of a short stalk projecting horizontally from the inside of the opening of the ear. The wings are of moderate length, and rather broad, and are attached to the ankle in a most singular manner. Their point of attachment is not, as usual in Bats, on the outside, but on the inside of the ankle, so that a narrow strip of membrane has to cross over the terminal portion of the shank. The thumbs are free; the legs and tail are long and slender; the latter, which consists of only seven joints, is longer than the head and body of the animal, and is almost entirely enclosed in the ample interfemoral membrane, the posterior margins of which are supported by long spurs springing from the heels. All the membranous parts, including the ears, are thickly marked with dotted lines. There are four incisor teeth in the upper jaw, placed in pairs, and separated by a space from the canines. There are three pre-molars in both jaws. (Dental formula—incisors, 2–26, canines, 1–11–1, pre-molars, 3–33–3, molars, 3–33–3.
The Straw-coloured Bat measures about four inches in total length, fully one-half of which is occupied by the tail. It is clothed with a moderately-long fur, of a brownish-yellow colour, paler on the lower surface. The membranes are reddish-brown. It is an inhabitant of South and Central America.
CHAPTER V.
EMBALLONURINE ALLIANCE.
FAMILY V.—EMBALLONURIDÆ, OR THICK-LEGGED BATS.
Characteristics of the Emballonuridæ, or [THICK-LEGGED BATS]—[CUVIER’S FURY]—The Genus Saccopteryx—[STRIPED SACK-WINGED BAT]—The Pouch or Sac in the Wing-membrane—Dentition—[MOUNTAIN BAT]—[TOMB BAT]—Origin of its Name—Dentition—The Peculiar Sac or Pouch under the Chin—Other Species of the Genus (note)—[EGYPTIAN RHINOPOME]—Difficulty of Assigning its True Place in the System—Characteristics—[GREAT HARE-LIPPED BAT]—Seba’s Description—Linnæus’s Mistake—Dentition—Distribution—The Genus Nyctinomus—[CESTONI’S BAT]—[PALE CHESTNUT MASTIFF BAT]—Distribution—Habits—[SMOKY MASTIFF BAT]—Habits—[COLLARED BAT]—Hideous Ugliness—Characteristics—[NEW ZEALAND SHORT-TAILED BAT]—Characteristics—Mr. Dobson on the Wing-membrane, Thumb, and Foot
THIS family is the first of the second great group into which Mr. Dobson divides the ordinary Bats, and it includes many forms which are almost as typically Bats as the Vespertilionidæ themselves. As in the Vespertilionidæ the nostrils are simple, that is to say, they are quite destitute of foliaceous appendages, except in one curious genus (Rhinopoma), which has a very small nose-leaf. The character of the folding of the first phalanx of the middle finger in repose upon the upper surface of the metacarpal bone has already been mentioned as distinguishing the members of this alliance generally. It is subject to two exceptions in the present family, being extended in a line with the metacarpal bone, in the same way as in the Vespertilionine Bats, in the curious genus Noctilio, and folded beneath the metacarpal in the equally singular genus Mystacina. In the latter genus, moreover, the middle finger has three phalanges, the number of these bones in all other Emballonuridæ being two. The legs are short and stout, and have the two bones of the shank (tibia and fibula) nearly equally developed; the tail has its basal portion enclosed within the interfemoral membrane, but perforates this on the upper surface, at or beyond the middle, and is usually continued as a free organ for a considerable distance beyond this point; and the upper incisor teeth are generally two in number.
The members of this family, which are insectivorous in their habits, are chiefly confined to the tropical and sub-tropical regions of both hemispheres. A single species inhabits Europe, and one is found in New Zealand.