732 CLASS XVII. 



Gape of mouth very large. Index with a single osseous phalanx 

 only, or with two. 



Family XLI. Nycterina. (Characters of the section those of 

 the single family also.) 



t Bats with nose simple. ( Gymnorhina Wagner.) 



Vespe7'tilio Geoffr. (and Plecotus ejusd., spec, of VespertiUo 



4 . 1-1 . 1 



L.). Incisor teeth ^, the upper middle remote, canmes t^T) simple, 



4_4 5-5 5-5 Q-Q ^ . 



strong ; molars ^— ^ , g-^^ , g^^, or ^— ^ . Tragus of ear 



elongate, erect, resembling an opercle. Tail connate with inter- 

 femoral membrane. (Three true molars above and below, the rest 

 of the molar teeth premolars.) 



LinnjEUS, in the last edition of the Systema naturce, enumerated only six 

 species in his genus VespertiUo, of which the last two, V. auritus and muri- 

 mis, alone find a place in this genus as limited by later writers. These two 

 were the only European species of chiropters recorded by him. Dauben- 

 TON, however, had already discovered various new European species {Mem. 

 del'Acad. des Sc. 1759, Buff. Hist. nat. viii. pp. 126 — 132). Subsequent 

 writers have added several, and the number of exotic species, to be here 

 arranged, is very remarkable, so that now scarcely fewer than 100 species 

 are counted in the genus. Compare on this genus : H. Kuhl Die deutschen 

 Fledermause, Hanau, 18 17, 4to (printed separately from the .iwnaZew de?- 

 Wetterau-Gesellscli. iv.), Geoffkot Saint-Hilaibe Mem. stir le genre et 

 les especes de Vespertilion, Ann. du Mus. viii. pp. 187 — 205, F. Cuvier 

 Nouv. Ann. du Mus. i. pp. i — 21, PL i, 2, Temminck Monogr.-de Mam- 

 mal. II. pp. 161 — 262, KoLENATi Beitrdge zur Naturgesch. der Europciischen 

 Chiropfera; Mit 6 lithogr. Tafeln, 8vo, Dresden, 1857. For the distin- 

 guishing of the European species the accurate descriptions and the sub- 

 genera given by Ketserling and Blasius are of service. 



Vesperugo Blas. and Keyserl. (External margin of ears produced 

 forwards under the tragus.) Sp. VespertiUo serotinus Daubent., Buff, 

 viii. pi. 18, fig. 2, Schreb. Saugth. Tab. 53; one of the most common 

 species ; the tip of the tail extends free from the membrane at the posterior 

 extremity of the body. — VespertiUo pipistreUiis Daubent., Buff. 1. 1. Pl. 

 19, fig. I, Schreb. Saugth. Tab. 54; the smallest indigenous species ; see a 

 figure of the head in Guee. Iconogr., Mamm. PI. 9, fig. 2; — Vespertilio 

 noctiila Daubent., Vesp. lasiopterus Schbeb., VespertiUo proterus KuHL, 

 Schreb. Saugth. Tab. 44, 58; the under surface of the wing-membrane 

 along the arms much haired ; one of the commonest species in towns and 

 in the country; of European species this has the longest and narrowest 

 wings, it flies very high and with great celerity, soinetimes even before 

 sunset. 



