MAMMALIA. 



Body usually covered with hair; the young fed with milk 

 from the mother. 



Order Chiroptera. 



Fore limb modified into a flying organ by the elongation of 

 the digits. 



Family Emhallonuridae. 



Nostrils simple, ears large, the tragi minute. First joint of 

 the middle finger, when in repose, folded on the wrist. Tail 

 partially free from the inter-femoral membrane. Temperate and 

 tropical regions of both hemispheres. 



Genus Mystacops. 

 Ears separate, the tragus long and attenuated. Middle finger 

 of three joints. Legs short. Tail perforating the inter-femoral 

 membrane, and appearing on its upper surface. New Zealand 

 only. 



The Short-tailed Bat. 



Mystacops tuberculatus. 



Above brown, paler below; long erect hairs fringe the lips. Length 

 of the third finger 3 in. Both Islands. One large colony has been found 

 on the Little Barrier Island, and individual members of the species are 

 reported from Waikawa, in Southland. The presence of an additional 

 joint in the middle finger of this bat enables the folded wings to occupy 

 a very small space; the first joint of the third finger is bent upwards in 

 repose, and not downwards, under the wrist, as in the rest of the 

 family; and the wing, when folded, is thus tucked in beneath the 

 thickened portion of the membrane; while, at the same time, the 

 posterior half of the inter-femoral membrane, from the point where the 

 tail perforates it, is rolled upwards and forwards beneath the leathery 

 anterior half. The fur is very peculiar. The hairs are moderately long, 

 and much thicker than in any other species. Viewed under a microscope, 

 the shaft of each of the long hairs appears almost smooth, with very 

 slight indications of the margins of the hair-scales so conspicuous in 

 every other kind of bat. 



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