rxERorrs hypojjelanfs GEorr. 99 



west to southern Indo-China, north to Formosa and South Liu-kiu 

 Islands, east and south-cast to Australia, Central Solomon Islands, 

 New Caledonia, aad Loyalty Islands. One species in the Mas- 

 carcnes. 



General characters. — Skull and dentition unmodified Pteropine ; 

 posterior basal ledges of premolars quite short, but distinctly 

 marked off from teeth (at least in p\ p^, and pj. Ears moderate 

 or short, broad, tip not narrowly pointed; interferaoral short or 

 undeveloped in centre ; fur short, adpressed on back, tibia naked 

 above, except in certain peripheral species (see below). Colour in 

 typical forms not peculiar: dark brownish back, pale mantle, head, 

 and underparts, but in all Indo-Malayan, as well as in the 

 Formosan and Liu-kiu forms, a pronounced tendency to partial or 

 complete suppression of light colours. Sexual differentiation incon- 

 spicuous : males without glandular neck-tufts (except Ft. hrimneus), 

 but generally with slightly heavier canines and slightly more rigid 

 fur of mantle. Size moderate or small (forearm 95-146 mm.). — 

 The Mascarene species is in certain respects aberrant. 



Differentiation of species. — Pi. hi/pomelanus, in its full specific 

 sense, is the most widely distributed species of the genus ; it covers 

 the whole area from New Guinea, through the Moluccas, Celebes, 

 and Philippines, to Borneo, Sumatra, Cochin-China, Siam, and the 

 Mergui Archipelago, each group of islands having generally its 

 own race, but is apparently absent from the southern chain of 

 islands from Java, through the Lesser Sunda Islands, to the Banda, 

 Key, and Aru Islands, as well as from the Andamans and Nicobars. 

 In many of these islands it is however replaced by closely allied 

 species, Java being apparently the only large island in the Indian 

 Archipelago in which no species of the 7ii/pomelanus group is known 

 to occur. The numerous races of Pt. h)/pomelanus differ chiefly in 

 the colour of the fur ; those inhabiting the Moluccas (liypomelnmis), 

 Celebes {macassaricux), and New Guinea (Zm^cm,?) are unquestionably 

 the most ordinary-looking: back dark, mantle and underparts 

 pale (buffy), as in a majority of species of Pl4ropus-, passing 

 •westward, the most noticeable change in the races is a darkening 

 or suppression of all huffy colours, not infrequently combined witli 

 a sprinkling of the dark colours with greyish ; to the modifications 

 in colour are added in certain islands in the South China Sea 

 (N. Natunas: Pt. h. canus; Tarabelan Is.: Pt. h. lepidus) a shght 

 increase in the average size of the teeth, and in the extreme south- 

 west (Engano : Pt. h. enganus) a well-marked decrease in the 

 average size of the individuals. — Pt. speciosns (Snla Is.) and 

 Pt. mimiis (Celebes, Philippines) are very similar to Pt. hypomelanvs 

 in skull, dentition, and colour of fur, but dift'ering by their com- 

 paratively smaller size. 



In the Andamans Pt. Ju/pomelanus is apparently rejdaced by the 

 smaller-eyed, longer-furred, and very dark-coloured Pt. sati/rus; 

 in the Xicobars by Pl f annul us, which in many respects comes 

 rather near to the Engano race (enf/anus) of Pt. hypomelunus, hut 

 is smaller, with smaller teeth and longer fur; in Timor by tha 



