IXXKRUELATiOXS 01' tiCXERA. lix 



foregoing Cynopteriiie genera. The premaxilla? are proclivons, tlie 

 iiicit<ors likewise and tiieir crowns peenliarly dilferontiated (triangu- 

 larly pointed), the rostrum is ratlier less shortened than usual in 

 Cynopteriiie bats and very thin and low anteriorly, the facial axis 

 more distinctly deflected than usual in Cynopteri, the canines 

 (particularly those in the lower jaw) slanted outward, and the 

 cheek-teeth considerably reduced in breadth ; the odontoid papillae 

 on the inner side of the lips are few and small (as in the lloiisettine 

 section), the tail is suppressed, the interfemoral extends only to the 

 middle of the tibia, and the calcar, therefore, has disappeared. 



The prototype of the highly peculiar genus Nyctimene (thirteen 

 species: Austro-ilalaya and Australia) Avas ])robably similar to 

 Ci/nopterus in all the essential characters of the skull, dentition, 

 palate-ridges, and lip papillic, but without the secondarily acquired 

 dental characters of the living species of Ci/nopterns (no inner cin- 

 guluni cusp in the canines, no surface cusps in the cheek-teeth), and 

 with the tail less reduced in length, even a little longer (though very 

 likely not with a greater number of vertebra;) than in Ilouseltus. 

 Developing into yj/ctlmene this ancestral form was roodified as 

 follows : — The lower canines moved forward close together to the 

 extremity of the mandible, and probably as a consequence of this 

 all lower incisors disappeared (compare Dohsoniu and llariiyio- 

 iiijcteris, both with the lower canines in a similar position, with i, 

 lost and i, present only in a quite rudimentary state and occasionally 

 deciduous) ; also i' disappeared (nomj)are the veiy conspicuous 

 shortening of this tooth in several Cynopteriiie genera), so that i' 

 became the only remaining pair of incisors above and below ; the 

 nostrils were elongated into cylindrical tubes and the extremity of 

 the rostrum moditied to act as a support of these tubes : the rostrum 

 became unusually high (truncate) anteriorly, the premaxilloe deep, hut 

 short (not reaching nasals), and firmly ankylosed together in front, 

 and the extremity of the nasals was produced forward and downward 

 in the middle ; ];>robably as a further consequence of the extra- 

 ordinary- development of the anterior iiarcs, the posterior narial 

 jiassage and mesopterygoid fossa became broader and deeper than 

 usual (hence the slightly "pandurate" outline of the postdental 

 palate). The wings are spotted with yellow (as in BaHoiii/cteris). 

 The posterior circumvallate papilla is divided into two (fig. Go A, 

 p. 725), and the cardiac portion of the stomach indistinctly differen- 

 tiated (compare the alleged insectivorous habits of the genus). (Fur 

 a more detailed discussion of the characters and afSuities of this 

 genus see pp. 6yi-(i94.) 



The eleven foregoing genera constitute what may be called tho 

 Cynopterins sectioa of Fruit-bats (thirtj'-one species, forty-one 

 forms). The principal characters that link these genera together as 

 a natural group are these : — ( 1) the rostrum is always conspicuously 

 shortened, in all genera (except Mi/onj/cferis and Sphcerias) so much 

 so that the distance from the orbit to the cxtrcmitv of the na?als is 



