THE TYPICAL BATS 269 



There does not appear to be any popular name for the bats forming the second 

 genus Nycteris of this family. They are readily distinguished from the false 

 vampires by the practical absence of a distinct nose-leaf, which is represented only 

 by a slit running down the middle of the face from the nostrils to the line of the 

 ears, on the sides of which are small expansions of skin. Then, again, the ears, 

 although furnished with an undivided tragus, are merely joined by a very narrow 

 band at their bases, which in some species is so slightly developed as to be almost 

 invisible. Moreover, these bats have well-developed tails, and also upper incisor 

 teeth, the total number being 32, of which -| on each side are incisors, \ canines, 

 and |- cheek-teeth. So different, indeed, are the bats of the genus Nycteris from the 

 false vampires, that the reader might well wonder why the two are associated in a 

 single family. There are, however, important resemblances in the form and struc- 

 ture of the head and skull, among which as characteristics visible externally 

 may be mentioned the pointed and cylindrical muzzle, and the projection of the 

 lower jaw beyond the upper ; these being sufficient to establish the near relationship 

 of the two groups. 



With the exception of one species (N. javanica) from Java and the Malay 

 Peninsula, the bats of this genus are confined to Africa, where they are mostly 

 restricted to the regions south of the Sahara, although one of them ranges into 

 Egypt. 



THE TYPICAL BATS 



Family VESPERTILIONID^E 



With the exception of the horseshoe-bats already described, the whole of the 

 bats found in the British Islands, and, indeed, in Europe generally, may be included 

 in a single family, which may conveniently be designated popularly as the typical 

 bats, and is scientifically known as the Vespertilionidce. All these bats agree with 

 the two preceding families in the relation of the tail to the membrane between the 

 legs ; but they are distinguished by the absence of a distinct nose-leaf, the nostrils 

 merely forming circular or crescent-shaped apertures at the end of the muzzle 

 without any complications from foldings of the skin. Their tails are long, and 

 produced to the edge of the membrane between the legs ; and their ears are always 

 furnished with a distinct tragus. Apart from certain details in the structure of 

 their skulls which need not be mentioned here, it may be observed that the incisor 

 teeth of the upper jaw are always of small size, those of opposite sides being 

 separated from one another by a considerable interval, while their number varies 

 from one to two pairs. The lower incisor teeth, on the other hand, are, with one 

 exception, three pairs. Moreover, there are generally either six or five cheek-teeth 

 on each side of both upper and lower jaws, the reduction in number in the latter 

 instance being due to the disappearance of one of the premolars. 



In addition to being the common bats of Europe, the typical bats have an 

 almost world- wide distribution, and include more than one hundred and fifty distinct 

 species. The absence of the nose-leaf, together with other features in their organ- 



