Order CHIROPTERA.^ BATS 



Suborder MICROCHIROPTERA (Bats exclusive 

 of the Old World Fruit-eating Bats, the 

 Megachiroptera) 



Mammals with highly specialized structures for true flight, 

 which include modified forelimbs; greatly elongated fingers 

 which are joined together and to the sides of body and legs 

 by a continuous membrane; shoulder girdle more specialized 

 than pelvis, the sternum generally with a keel; knee directed 

 backward to allow for rotation of leg. Tragus (a specialized 



Fig. 14. Big Brown Bat 



membranous process within the ear-conch) present in all 

 American forms; dentition normally of insectivorous type; 

 molar teeth of upper jaw quite different from those of lower. 



^ For a very full and exhaustive treatment of all the known families 

 and genera of Bats see G. S. Miller, Jr., The Families and Genera of Bats, 

 Bull. 57, U. S. Nat. Mus., 1907. 



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