786 



llELONTCTEKIS. 



By having the underside of the body much darker than the back 

 this genus is at once distinguished from all other Alacroglossince 

 (and indeed from all other Fruit-bats, except certain species of 

 Pteropus). The following combinations of characters are absolutely 

 diagnostic: Infraorbital canal long, incisors ^-2 (tbe infraorbital 

 canal is long only in two other genera of Fruit-bats, Nesonycteris 

 and Kotopleris, both of which have only one pair of lower incisors) ; 

 or ; infraorbital canal long, index clawed (claw absent in JS'eso- 

 nycteris and Notoptens) ; or : tongue Macroglossine, forearm more 

 than 50 mm., index clawed (in the other Macroglossince with the 

 forearm more than 50 mm., viz. Eonycteris, Nesonycteris, and 

 Notopteris, the claw of the index is absent). 



Fig. 75.— Me/.oni/cterismelanops, $. New Britain. No. 94.7.1.5.1. 

 I (linear), front view f , outline of dorsal aspect of skull j. 



Skull (fig. 75). — Very similar in general shape to that of 

 Syconycteris (lig. 73, p. 772), but infraorbital canal much longer 

 (infraorbital foramen almost in the middle between ventral margin 

 of orbital cavity and alveolus of canine, in Syconycteris distance 

 from foramen to base of canine at least three times greater than 

 from foramen to ventral margin of orbit) ; premaxill* nearly twice 



