NOTES ON THE VAMPIRE BAT (DIFHYLLA ECAIIDATA), 



WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ITS RELATIONSHII'S 



WITH DESMODUS RUFUS. 



By llARKisoN Allen, M. J). 



I HAVE had the privik^ge of studying two specimeus of Biphylla 

 ecaHchitii' he\ol^2.u^^^ to the National Museum (No. MtS, from Sta. Eti- 

 genia, Teluiantepec, .Mexico, and No. G9<>(>, froui Orizaba, Mexico), both 

 collected by F. Sumichrast. The dried skins contained fragments of 

 skulls in which the teeth Avere preserved. Upon a casual examination 

 I was struck with the fact that the coloration was ditierent from that 

 given by Dobson in his catalogue of the Chiroptera of the British 

 Museum, and that Ibur incisors insteadof two were present in the upper 

 iaw. Since Dobson states that the muzzle and ears in DiphnUa are as 

 in Desmodus, and that the skull is very similar to that of 7>. ru/us, I 

 was not prepared to find marked contrasts when I came to compare 

 IHphi/Ua with, that genus. I also noted that tlie original description 

 of Spix gave an account in some respects more in harmony with the 

 Mexic^aiMndividuals than was Dobson's, and I received the impression 

 that either the single specimen on which Dobsoirs account was based 

 was not a specimen of DiphyUa, or that the condition of the specimen 

 did not permit of a critical comparison being made. 



The text of Spix is herewitli given, since the work in which it 

 appeared- is rare and can not be readily consulted by t)ie student. 



DIPHYLLA, Spix. 



Nas.) bifoliato; cauda et menvbrana interfemorali nnllis. Uoscriptio: Corpus 

 mediocre; caput breve, apice subobtusnn. ; auricnla- obl..ugo-r..tnndata-, ])erbreves 

 qnasi truncato, basin versus omuiuo d.-ticieutes; tragus lancoolatus, mtegor, baud 

 reconditrs; vexilla duo supra uasum juxta seposita, .[uasi tr.uicata, ad latera uon 

 prolongata perbrevia, pra-cipue posterius; dentes cauini supra iufraqiu> duo, vix 



"Tsi^i7"siraia^!^et^Ve8pertrBra8il., p. 68, pi. xxxvi, fig. 7, 1823.-Wa(;nki!, Schrob. 

 Saugethier, Suupl. V, p. 6lo, 1855.-DOBSON, Cat. Chir. Brit. Mus., 1878. p. ;>oO.- 

 Alstox, r.iol. Ceutrali-Amcricana, 1879-1882, p. 18.53, pi. m, iig. 0. 



•2SimiaruHi et Vespertilioimm Brasilicusiuin Species Nov;.'. 1823-18153, !>. <i8, pi. 



XXXVI, fig. 7. 



Proceedini^s .,f the rnit.-a States Xntiounl Museum, Vol. X VIII-Xo. 1099. 



Proc. N. M. 05- 49 '^''^ 



