[243] Poey’s Leaf Bat (Phyllonycteris Poeyi) is a second species inhabiting Cuba.
[244] The rest of the species forming the group Glossophaga have three premolars on each side in each jaw, and the inner upper incisors smaller than the outer ones. The lower incisors are more or less deciduous, and sometimes altogether wanting in the adult. Lonchoglossa caudifera has a well-developed zygomatic arch, and the interfemoral membrane, tail, and spurs very short. It is from Western Brazil and Surinam. The tail in this species is liable to be withdrawn, or lost in preparing the skin of the animal, and hence it has been described under the rather contradictory names of caudifera and ecaudata, and a distinct genus (Anura) was established upon the apparently tailless specimens. In Glossonycterus lasiopyga the zygomatic arch is deficient, and the tail is wanting; the spurs and interfemoral membrane are very short, and the latter is covered with hair. It is an inhabitant of Mexico. Chœronycteris mexicana, from Mexico, and C. minor, from Surinam, have a well-developed interfemoral membrane enclosing a very short tail. The anterior molars are very narrow, and the first upper premolar is deciduous.
[245] Stenoderma perspicillatum.
[246] Stenoderma jamaicense.
[247] Two other species of Stenoderms are referred to Artibeus by Professor Peters, namely, his A. fallax, and A. concolor, both from Surinam. Both these have five molar teeth in the upper jaw, the preceding species having only four on each side. Three other species forming the sub-genus Dermanura, with only four molars on each side of both jaws, are Artibeus cinereus and quadrivittatus, from South America, and A. toltecum, from Mexico. Phyllops albomaculatus, from Cuba and Jamaica, and P. personatus, from Brazil, have five molars on each side in both jaws, and the palate is deeply cut out between the molars. In Vampyrops lineatus and vittatus, both South American species, the number of molars is also five, but the palate is not so deeply cut. The typical species of the genus Stenoderma, S. rufum, resembles this, but has only four molars on each side in each jaw, as described by Geoffroy, but this may be due to the youth of the specimen. Pygoderma bilabiatum and Ametrida centurio also have only four molars on each side, and the hindmost of these is very small. In the latter the face is much flattened. Chiroderma villosum and pusillum, on the contrary, have the fourth or hindmost molar larger than any of the rest, and are further characterised by a broad fissure which runs up from the aperture of the nose to the space between the orbits. Sturnira lilium and chiliensis have five molars on each side, and no interfemoral membrane. The former is from Brazil and Paraguay, the latter from Chili. Brachyphylla cavernarum, a curious Bat from caves in the islands of St. Vincent and Cuba, which is also said to occur in South Carolina, has an oval nose-leaf surrounded behind by a pit, a triangular fissure in the lower lip, and a rudimentary tail; and the singular genus Centurio, including two species (C. senex and McMurtrii), found in the West Indies and Central America, has a big, Bull-dog-like head and a flat face covered with naked cutaneous leaves. The teeth in Centurio resemble those of the Spectacled Stenoderm. There is no tail, and the wing-membranes display peculiar translucent patches.
[248] Desmodus rufus.
[249] According to Professor Gervais; some zoologists make the number of incisors in the first dentition six. The first teeth differ entirely in character from those of the adult animal.
[250] The wound is, in fact, very much like that which many of our readers must occasionally have inflicted on themselves in shaving; and those who are experienced in such matters will know how long it takes to stop the bleeding thus produced.
[251] There is sometimes a difficulty in distinguishing between canines and premolars, and it will be seen, hereafter, that in some cases the canines are supposed to be wanting; but no Insectivore possesses two chisel-like, constantly-growing incisors in each jaw, separated by a long interval from the molars, as in the Rodents, or Gnawing Mammals.
[252] Galeopithecus volans.