TAPHOZOUS. 347 



females ; interfemoral hairy to the 



exsertion of the tail ; forearm 2'4 ...... T. longimanus, p. 348. 



o radio-metacarpal pouch ; lower lip with 

 a deep median transverse groove ; gular 

 sac in both sexes ; forearm 2-9 T. saccolcemus, p. 350. 



218. Taphozous melanopogon. The black-bearded sheath-tailed Bat. 



Taphozous rnelanopogou, Temminck, Mon. Mam. ii, p. 287, p 60, 

 tigs. 8, 9 (1835-41) ; Cantor, J. A. S. B. xv, p. 180 ; Jerdon, Mam. 

 p. 31 ; Dobson, P. Z. S. 1875, p. 548 ; id. Mon. As. Chir. p. 167 ; 

 id. Cat. Chir. B. M. p. 380 ; Anderson, Cat. p. 146. 



No gular pouch; throat always hairy. Radio-metacarpal pouch 

 extending about one-fourth the length of the fifth metacarpal bone. 

 A row of small papillae on the inner margin of the ear. Thick 

 hair covers the forehead to between the eyes, remainder of the 

 face and the sides of the head very thinly clad with short hairs. 



Fig. 114. Head of Taphozous melanopogon, male and female. 

 (Dobson, P. Z. S. 1875.) 



Wings from the tibiae above the ankles. The fur extends about 

 one-third down the upper surface of the humerus and femur and 

 very slightly upon the membrane between them. The inter- 

 femoral is thinly covered almost as far as the point where the 

 tail perforates it. 



Colour of the fur smoky brown to greyish brown, the basal 

 portion white. There is not much difference between the upper and 

 lower surfaces. Some specimens are blackish brown. In males 

 there is sometimes a large patch of long black hairs on the throat 

 (fig. 114), but this character, from which the species has been 

 named, is not always present and may, as Dobson suggests, be 

 assumed at the breeding-season. 



Dimensions. Head and body 3-1 inches, taill, ear from crown 

 0-55, forearm 2-5. 



Distribution. Probably throughout the greater part of the 

 Oriental region. Recorded from Lower Bengal, Chutia Nagpur, 

 Sambalpur, Canara (Malabar Coast), Trichinopoly, Upper Burma, 

 and Tenasserim ; also from Cochin China, Java, Borneo, and the 

 Philippine Islands. 



