BATS. 



235 



refer the Bat back to the Pterodactyle as its progenitor, whetlier it has been derived directly from 

 the Reptilian type, or its elements have been filtered through the Birds. In either view it seems 

 more likely that the terrestrial Insectivores may be derived from, or be a modification of the Bats, 

 than the Bats a modification of them. 



Bats are found all over the world. Some groups are confined to the Old and some to the New 



"World, whilst others are cosmopolitan ; but although the same genera are sometimes found both in 



le Old and the New World, there is no instance of the same species being so found. Thej^ are 



very numerous ; nearly 400 species having been described ; and they are all so similar to each other 



that the greatest difficulty has been found in discovering generic characters, by which to enable the 





^^ 



Fig. 1. Pterodactyle. 



Fig. 2. Bat. 



Fig 3. Bird. 



naturalist to classify them. This has been done by the combination of characters which, in other 

 orders, would not be considered of more than specific value ; and in many of the genera the specific 

 characters have been reduced to the size of the aniinal, and the quality and colour of the fur. 



Frugivorous B.\ts. (Pteropi.) (Map 67.) The frugivorous Bats have been named Flying Foxes, 

 from many of the species in India being of the colom- of the fox, with a head sonu'what like a fox, 

 and, when their wings are expanded, looking nearly as large. 



About forty species of Pteropine Bats are known, but one genus is sufficient to contain the 

 whole, with the exception of about a dozen peculiar species, for which special genera have been 

 established. One species is found in New Holland and Van Dieman's Land. One or two on the 

 different islands scattered about in the Pacific and Indian Ocean. In some instances species occur 

 peculiar to the individual group of islands on which they are foimd, — as at the Andaman, the 

 Nicobar, and the Marianne Islands ; but generally both in this group aiul in the insectivorous Bats 

 the species have an extensive range ; one, for instance, which has been taken at the Samoa Islands, is 



