220 



CHIROPTEEA 



18i4. Vesp[ertilio] nigrans Crespon, Faune Meridionale, i, p. 24 (Nimes, 



Gard, France). 

 1853. Vesperugo manrus Blasius, Wiegmann's Arcliiv fiir Naturgesch., 



1853, I, p. 35 (Central chain of the Alps). 

 1857. Vesperugo maurus Blasius, Siiugethiere Deutschlands, p. 67. 

 1872. V[espertilio] agilis Fatio, Faune Vert. Suisse, Append, au vol. i, 



p. iii (Alternative name for V. savii Bonaparte, ex Savi MS.). 

 1878. Vesperugo maurus Dobson, Gatal. Chiropt. Brit. Mus., p. 218. 

 1904. Vespertilio ochromixtus Cabrera, Mem. Soc. Espaii. Hist. Nat., ii, 



p. 267 (Sierra de Guadarrama, Madrid, Spain). 

 1910. PipistreUus savii and P. savii oclironiixtus Trouessart, Faune Mamm. 



d'Europe, pp. 13-14. 



Tiipc locality. — Pisa, Italy. 



Geographical distribution. — Southern Europe, west to the 

 Iberian Peninsula, north to the Alps ; also the Canary Islands, 

 northern Africa and southern Asia. Limits of range very 

 imperfectly known. 



Diagnosis. — Largest European member of the genus (condy- 

 lobasal length of skull, 13 to 14 mm. ; forearm, 31 to 33 mm.) ; 

 outer upper incisor more than half as high as inner ; large 

 premolar broadly in contact with canine, the small tooth very 

 minute, crowded inward from axis of tooth-row, invisible from 

 outer side and occasionally covered by the gum, its diameter 

 much less than that of outer incisor ; anterior lower premolar 

 with crown area less than half that of succeeding tooth ; lower 

 canine robust ; tragus with greatest width nearly equal to length 

 of anterior border ; thumb short ; hairs of back usually with 

 contrasting light brown tips. 



External characters. — Ear broad, its general form about as in 

 PipistreUus nathusii, the posterior border slightly but evidently 

 concave above middle, the inner surface of conch noticeably 

 rugose and with faint, irregular transverse ridges behind tragus ; 

 antitragus small aiid ill-defined, but producing an evident break 

 in outline of conch ; tragus less than half as high as conch, very 

 wide (greatest width, at level of middle of anterior border, nearly 

 equal to length of anterior border), the anterior border nearly 

 straight, the posterior border strongly and evenly convex from 

 tip to notch above small basal lobe. Wing, foot, calcar and tail 

 as in P. pipistrellus. 



Fur and colour. — The fur resembles that of Piplstrellus Tcuhlil 

 in quality and distribution. Colour differing from that of the 

 other European species in the evident contrast between light 

 tips of hairs of back and darker ground tint. It is also the only 

 species in which there is much individual variation in colour. 

 Four specimens from the neighbourhood of Genoa are coloured as 

 follows : male, not fully adult, uniform very dark vandyke-brown, 

 the extreme tips of hairs of back faintly lighter, underparts a 

 light brown faintly overlaid on blackish under colour ; adult male : 

 light tips on back well developed, giving general colour to region, 

 between raw-umber and clay-colour ; adult male : light tips very 



