NTCTIllKNE. 685 



6tricted at middle (pandurate), making lateral margins concave 

 (in Cynoi>terus straightly converging antero-posteriorly) ; meso- 

 pterygoid fossa unusually broad and deep, breadth between hamuli 

 subequnl to breadth between in'-m', and lateral walls of fossa 

 ([>terygoid8 and posterior prolongations of palatines) expanded 

 verticiilly in conformance to greater depth of fossa. Postorbital 

 foramina generally entirely absent (faint traces on one or both 

 sides observed in a few skulls of N. c^phnlotes and papuanits ; in 

 one skull of N. fcipuamis, 99.12.4.1, the foramen is quite distinct 

 on the left side, closed above but open below on the right; in 

 one skull of N. cephahtes, 9.1.4.8, distinct on both sides). Zygo- 

 mata heavy, strongly curved upward ; sagittal crest always fully 

 developed ; postorbital processes relatively strong ; masseteric 

 surface of zygomatic process of maxillary sometimes confined 

 almost entirely to inferior surface of th»t bone, but usually extending 

 upward on external surface, often nearly to its upper margin ; 

 angular process of mandible usually (in larger species always) 

 bent more or less strongly outward ; coronoid process high, often 

 broad, and (particularly in the large species of the N. geminus 

 type) with front margin conspicuously expanded interiorly. 

 Tympanies narrow, annular (narrower than in Cjinnpterus). Basi- 

 cranial axis only slightly deflected (as in C unopterus). 



Dentition (fig. 61).— ^ c p p ]) m ^ ^ ^ ^^^^ Number 



c pj P3 p, m^ m, 

 and homologies of premolars and molars quite as in Ct/nopterus ; 

 but, owing to disappearance of all incisors except upper inner pair, 

 total number of teeth less than in any other genus of Megachiro- 

 ptcra (minimum in other genera 28). 



Upper incisors relatively large, crown well-differentiated, in 

 front view subtriangular ; posterior ledge large, making antero- 

 posterior subequal to transverse diameter of crown ; cutting-edge 

 bilobed, outer lobe much narrower and shorter than inner. Upper 

 canines slightly shorter and less acutely pointed than in Cynoptcrus ; 

 front face of crown i)erfectly smooth (no vertical groove), cingulum 

 "well-marked ; often a more or less well-defined secondary cusp from 

 outer edge (see next paragraph). Lower canines moved forward to 



* In Ptenochirus, Megarops, Baliovycteris, and Penihetor i- is reduced to 

 about lialf the length of i' ; in the other Cynopterine genera i^ is slightly 

 but quite distinctly weaker than i'. Thus, thi-ougliout the whole group there 

 is a more or less pronounced tendency toward a degeneration oi' i^. Inasmuch 

 as Nyciimene is undoubtedly a genus of the Cynopterine group, the upper 

 incisor permanently lost is therefore here supposed to be i^, not i^ Specimens 

 of Nyctimene with milk-teeth have not beeu available for examination by the 

 writer; according to Leche (^. c. 1878), even the milk dentition exhibits only 

 one pair of upper inoisors. [The only genera of Megachiroptera with the 

 upper incisors permanently reduced in number are Boneia, Dobsonia, Nycti- 

 mcne, and Harpi/ioiycterrs ; in Boneia and Dobsonia the missing pair is 

 without doubt i' (see anica p 452, footnote), in Ni,ctimene, as just uienlioned, 

 probably i^, and in Harpyionycteris there is no evidence at all to show which 

 pair has been lost. In two genera, Epumops and yotoptcris, one pair of upper 

 incisors is deciduous; in the former this pair is i', in the latter i',] 



