t:()NV(Ti:i;is. <oJ 



loiiiid t(i c<:)iit;nii notlriii'j,' b;il pollen. ( Ikirtels, /. s. c, IDUt^.) — JJy 

 day Eomicterls liides in caves. 



Abilities. — EunijcteriH is the least, specialized genus of Macro- 

 f/lossina^ (hence it is here placed as the first genus of the subfamil}'), 

 but it is not in e\ery respect the most primiti\e (AJeJortycteris, 

 j^^esomicteris, and JSotopterix have preserved two primitive (uii- 

 moditied Insectivorous) crauial cliaracters which are (juite or 

 nearly lost in other Fruit-bats, vi/,. a long infraorbital canal and 

 l>road upper extremities of the premaxilljE ; and Notopteris is the 

 only living Fruit-bat in which the tail has remained long). 

 Perhaps the most appropriate diagnosis of EovycAeris W'Ould be 

 this : similar to Ilousettus in all important characters, except two, 

 viz. tongue with a heavy coat of unfringed filiform papilliB at 

 tip, and claw of second digit absent. So comjjlete is the resem- 

 blance, and so trivial the differences, in the skull, the dcntit/iou, 

 the palate-ridges, the tail, the fasciie of the membranes, llie relative 

 length of the metacarpals and phalanges, the distributiou of the 

 fur, even in the colour of the fur and the seconrlary sexuf.I 

 characters (neck-tufts in males), that, if it were not for the two 

 peculiar characters referred to, it would hardly be possible to 

 separate Eoni/cteris generically from Ilonseitits. As noted in the 

 foregoing paragraph, Eon.i/cterls {like probably all other genera of 

 the subfamily) has adapted itself to a diet consisting partly, 

 perhaps chieliy, of pollen ; hence the modification of the papilke at 

 the extremity of the tongue, the slightly longer and more hori- 

 zontal symphysis of the mandible, the weak dentition (not (juite 

 so weak as in other Macroglossine genera) and weak mandible 

 (not (piile so weak as in other genera of the subfamily); for 

 jjarallels, within the subfamily I'teropodina', in weak dentition and 

 mandible, compare Stcnonycieris (fig. 3, p. 49), Pteropiis sccqndatvs 

 (fig. 18, p. 404), and Pi. 'voodfordi (f\g. 11), p. 408). 



CaJlinycten's. — The species catalogued on p. 737 as Eonyrten's 

 rosenlierf/i was originally (by Jentink, I. s. c, 188!)) placed in a 

 distinct genus, ('(dlinycieri.'i, stated to diflier from Eonijcteris by the 

 absence of m^ and the insertion of the membranes on the second 

 (instead of the first) toe. The genus has been accepted, as distinct 

 from Eoni/cferis, by the latest revisers of the Megachiroptera, 

 Matschie "(18()!t) and Miller (1007). J!ut M-hether, or not, the 

 small m^ is really permanently absent in E. rosenbergi, nobodv can 

 tell with certainty, so long as this species is known only from a 

 single specimen ; in E. njyelaa this tooth is sometimes missing on 

 one side (see footnote p. 730), and it is quite possible, therefore, 

 that specimens may occur in which it has disappeared on both 

 sides ; neither would it be surprising, if specimens of E. rosruhenfi 

 were found showing the tooth present on one or even on both sides. 

 Supposing, however, that the rudimentary m^ is constantly absent 

 in E. roscuhen/i, this would be no valid reason to separate the 

 species generically, when, as is in fact the ease, in every other 

 respect (in skull, dentition, palate-ridges, and all external cha- 

 racters) it is a genuine Eo»i/cteri.i, and when the definite loss of this 

 tooth is eviii foreshadowed by those individuals of /,'. fjicl.fa in 



