EMBALLONURID.K 667 



ing part passing through and appearing upon its upper surface; 

 the crown of the head is slightly elevated ; the pollex and first 

 phalanx of the middle finger are moderately 

 long ; and the number of the premolars is 



always -,. 



Eniballonura. 1 — Incisors |. Extremity of 

 the muzzle more or less produced beyond the 

 lower lip, forehead flat. Contains some five 

 species, inhabiting islands from Madagascar 

 through the Malay Archipelago to the Navi- 

 gators' Islands. Fig. 312.— Earoftfm&aZfo- 



^.'-Incisors ± Extremity of the Z^TlZ:^^ 

 muzzle broad, forehead concave. Has two 

 species from East Africa and the Seychelles Islands. 



Rhynckonycteris. 3 — This genus is distinguished from Coleura by 

 the much-produced extremity of the muzzle. The single species, //. 

 naso, from Central and South America, is very common in the 

 vicinity of streams throughout the tropical parts of these countries ; 

 it is usually found during the day resting on the vertical faces of 

 rocks, or on the trunks of trees growing over the water, and, owing 

 to the peculiar grayish colour of the fur covering the body and 

 growing in small tufts from the antebrachial membrane, so as to 

 counterfeit the weathered surfaces of rocks and the bark of trees, 

 easily escapes notice. As the shades of evening approach it appears 

 early on the wing, flying close to the surface of the water, and 

 seizing the minute insects that hover over it. 



Saccopteryx.* — Incisors ^. Antebrachial membrane with a pouch 

 opening on its upper surface. This genus contains six species from 

 Central and South America. In the adult males a valvular lonei- 



O 



tudinal opening is found on the upper surface of the membrane, 

 varying in position in different species. This opening leads into a 

 small pouch (in some species large enough to hold a pea), the 

 interior of which is lined with a glandular membrane secreting an 

 unctuous substance of a reddish colour -with a strong ammoniacal 

 odour. The presence of this sac only in males indicates that it 

 is a secondary sexual character analogous to the shoulder-pouches 

 of Eporrwphonts and the frontal sacs of Hipposidems. It is quite 

 rudimentary in the females. 



Taphozous. 5 — Incisors h ; upper pair deciduous. This genus, 

 represented by some ten species, inhabiting the tropical and sub- 

 tropical parts of all the eastern hemisphere except Polynesia, forms 

 the second group of this division, distinguished by the cartilaginous 



1 Temminck (Van der Hceven), Tijdsch. Nat. Gcs. 1839, p. 22. 



- Peters, Monatsbcr. AJc. Berlin, 1867, p. 479. 3 Peters, he. cit. p. 477. 



4 Illiger, Prodromus Syst. Mamm. ct Avium, p. 121 (1811). 



5 Geoffrey, Dcscript. de VEgypte, vol. ii. p. 126 (1812). 



