CHAP. XVII.] 



MAMMALIA. 



181 



Order ILGHIROPTEEA. 



FAMILY 9. PTEKOPID^. (9 Genera, 65 Species.) 

 GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. 



The Pteropidse, or fruit-eating Bats, sometimes called flying- 

 foxes, are pretty evenly distributed over the tropical regions of 

 the Old World and Australia. They range over all Africa and 

 the whole of the Oriental Eegion, and northward, to Amoy in 

 China and to the South of Japan. They are also found in the 

 more fertile parts of Australia and Tasmania, and in the Pacific 

 Islands as far east as the Marianne and Samoa Islands ; but not 

 in the Sandwic!i Islands or New Zealand. 



The genera of bats are exceedingly numerous, but they are in 

 a very unsettled state, and the synonymy is exceedingly con- 

 fused. The details of their distribution cannot therefore be 

 usefully entered into here. The Pteropidse differ so much from 

 all other bats, that they are considered to form a distinct 

 suborder of Chiroptera, and by some naturalists even a distinct 

 order of Mammalia. 



No fossil Pteropidae have been discovered. 



FAMILY 10. PHYLLOSTOMID^. (31 Genera, 60 Species.) 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. 



The Phyllostomidse, or simple leaf-nosed Bats, are confined to 

 the Neotropical region, from Mexico and the Antilles to the 



