SYCONYCTEEIS CRASSA. 770 



on the peculiar different iation of the incisors. As described above, 

 the majority of the forms of the present genus have tlie cheek- 

 teeth rather less reduced in breadth, more typically elongate in 

 shape, than Macvo^/Josniis, while in others they are nearly or quito 

 as narrow (linear) as in the related genus. 



Jiislonj of genus and chronologi/ of S2^ecies. — The two earliest 

 known members of this genus, viz. anstralis (I'eters, 18(37), from 

 Queensland, and crassa (Thomas, 1895), from Fergusson Island 

 ( D'Entrecasteaux group), were originally described as forms of 

 Jlacrocjlosstis (or Carponi/cteris), the former as a perhaps doubtfully 

 distinguishable variety of 21. «inu')H((s, without any reference to the 

 peculiar incisors, the latter as a distinct species, with the characters 

 of the incisors correctly described. By Matschie (1899) these two 

 forms were placed in a distinct subgenus of Macroglossus, " S>/co- 

 nycteris" characterized, as compared with true Macror/lussns, by its 

 larger incisors, the absence of a diastema between the inner incisors 

 above and below, and its narrower interfemoral ; and two new 

 forms, pcqnutna (type locality, Andai, N.W. New Guinea) and 

 Jinschi (Bismarck Archipelago), were added. Jentitik (1902) pro- 

 posed to consider Si/conycteris a distinct genus (a view accepted bj' 

 Miller, 1907), and gave a revision of the material preserved in the 

 Lcyden and Dresden Museums. Three new forms, major (Amboina), 

 lei/ensis (Key Islands), and Jiains (Woodlark Island), were described 

 during the preparation of this Catalogue. All these forms, now 

 seven in number, are here considered referable to three closely 

 interrelated species, S. crassa (with five local races), australis, and 

 nakis. 



Si/Hoi>sis of the S2'>ecies. 



a. Cheek-teeth elongate in transverse section 



(p*, m', ^p^, and ni, decidedh" more than half 

 as broad as long) ; m- and nij present 

 (cheek-teeth [:). Forearm 39— tO mm. (Ara- 

 bolua group; New Guinea group, except 

 Woodlark Is.) 1. S. crassa, p. 77-5. 



b. Cheek-teeth linear (p', m\ p^, and nij only- 



half as broad as long). 



a', m- and m^ present (cheek-teeth I). Fore- 

 arm about 39-40-.5 mm. (Queensland) . . 2. .S'. australis, p. 781. 



b'. nv and m, absent (cheek-teeth }). Size as 



foregoing. (AVoodlark Is.) 3. S. naias, p. 785. 



1. Syconycteris crassa, Thos. 

 (Synonyms under the subspecies.) 



Diar/nosis. — The broader, more elongate form of the premolars 

 and molars (breadth of p', m', p^, and m, at least somewhat more 

 than half, as a rule about two-thirds, their length) is the only 

 character that distinguishes all races of this species from S. attstralis ; 

 in extreme cases the two species approach rather closely to each 

 other (see S. c. Jinschi, p. 779), but any " overlapping " has so far 



