528 THE SEROTINE AND PIPISTRELLE CHAP. 
these two characters it may be added that the nose leaf is well 
developed, but is not so complicated as in the last family. The 
type genus Vycteris is Ethiopian and Oriental, nine species being 
African, and only one, WV. javanica, being, as the specific name 
denotes, from the East. Megaderma is to be distinguished by the 
loss of the upper incisors. There is no tail, and the ears are 
particularly large. They are carnivorous Bats, and JZ lyra, called 
the “Indian Vampire Bat,” chiefly affects frogs as an article of diet. 
Fam. 3. Vespertilionidae.—This family has not the nose 
leaf of other families. The apertutes of the nostrils are simple, 
round, or crescentic apertures. The ear has a tragus, and the tail 
is not produced to any great degree behind the interfemoral 
membrane. There are two phalanges to the index digit. 
This family in numbers of species is vastly in excess of any 
other family of Bats. The most recent estimate, that of P. L. 
and W. L. Sclater, allows 190. But the generic types are by no 
means so numerous as in the Phyllostomatidae. This is a signi- 
ficant fact when we reflect upon the geographical range of the two 
families. The Vespertilionidae range over the whole earth, while 
the Phyllostomatidae are practically limited to the South American 
continent, only just getting into the Nearctic region. TheWin. 
habit, therefore, a more restricted area, and, in consequence of 
competition, have specialised more freely than the widely-spread 
and therefore not crowded Vespertilionidae. 
The genus Vesperugo is by far the largest genus of this family, 
embracing no less than seventy species. The tail is shorter than 
the head and body together; the ears are separate, and moderate 
or short in size; the tragus is generally short and obtuse. The 
dentition is° 12, C1, Pm2 or 1, M3. It 1s a remarkable fact 
that this genus, unlike most Bats, produces two young at a time. 
The genus is universal in range, and one species, the Serotine Bat, 
known in this country, even ranges from the New World to the 
Old; but with so small a creature the possibility of accidental 
transportation by man must not be left out of sight. The British 
species are—V. serotinus, the Serotine already mentioned; JV. 
discolor, a single example only of which has occurred, and may 
have been introduced; V. noctula, the habits of which were 
described by Gilbert White; V’. leisleri ; and the Pipistrelle, V. 
pipistrellus, which is the best-known member of the genus in this 
country. 
