478 ZOOLOGY. 



islands of tlie Soutli Seas. There are two incisors above, elongated, coni- 

 cal, and indented ; and six below, equal and trifid, with rounded lobes ; the 

 tail projects a little beyond the inter-femoral membrane. 



The genus Desmodus (curved-tooth bats) inhabits tropical America, where 

 three species are known ; the character of the genus resides in the peculiar 

 formation of the teeth. 



In the genus Rhinopoma (lid-nosed bats) the groove on the forehead is 

 less distinctly marked than in Nycteris; the nostrils are placed at the end 

 of the snout, above which is a little leaf; the ears are united; the tail 

 extends far beyond the membrane. One species only is known, principally 

 found in the pyramids of Egypt. 



The genus Taphozus (wing-pouched bats) is distinguished by a little 

 prolongation of the membrane of the wings, which forms a sort of sac near 

 the carpus. The head is pyramidal ; no recurved leaf is attached to the 

 nostrils ; there is a small rounded pit on the nose. Nine species of this 

 genus are known, some of which belong to the Old, and some to the New 

 World. One particular species was discovered in the catacombs of Egypt. 



The genus Mormoops contains but one species, proper to the tropical 

 region of the New World, distinguished in having on each side of the nose 

 a triangular leaf, which extends to the ears. There are four incisors in 

 each jaw, the superior tolerably large, the inferior trilobate; the cranium is 

 raised like a pyramid above the snout. One species only, which inhabits 

 tropical America. 



Fam. 2. Vespertilionid^. The genus Vespertilio (bats proper) has a 

 snout deprived of leaf, or any other peculiar appendage; the ears are sepa- 

 rated, and independent from each other; the tail is contained in the mem- 

 brane between the hind limbs. This genus is the most numerous in species, 

 and is found in both the Old and New Worlds. Seven are described from 

 North America, from the Atlantic to the Eocky Mountains, known as hoary 

 bat {V. pruinosus)^ little brown bat (F. siibvlatus), silver-haired bat {V. 

 noctivagans,) in the Northern, Middle, and Western States; others are 

 found in the Carolinas and Virginia. 



Of European bats we mention the common bat of Europe, V. murinus 

 {pi. in ^ fig. 5); V. noctula (pjl. 117^ fig. 3); and the serotine bat, V. seroti- 

 nus {i^l- 117, fig. 4). 



The genera Emhcdlonura (long-nosed bats) and Nycticejus (roquet dog- 

 bats) include numbers of species allied to Vespertilio, and peculiar to the 

 tropical regions of both the Old and New Worlds. 



The genus Furia (fury bats) is composed of one species from tropical 

 America, which differs generically from all others. 



Of the genus Vespertilio proper, several fossil species have been described 

 from the tertiary strata of the Old World, one of which is very nearly allied 

 to the common bat of the same hemisphere. 



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