34 ANIMAL LIFE PAST AND PRESENT. 



similar connection obtains between the ordinary PJia- 

 langers and the Flying Phalangers. There are a large 

 number of species of Flying Squirrels, which are mostly 

 of comparatively small size, although one species, from 

 the north-west of Kashmir, is as large as a rabbit. 

 Although their cries may frequently be heard at night 

 in the districts which they inhabit, Flying Squirrels 

 are but seldom seen. Their flight may be extended to 

 a distance of twenty-five or thirty yards. 



The Flying Lemurs, of the Malay Peninsula and the 

 Philippines, present a type of Mammal in which the 

 faculty of spurious flight has attained its maximum of 

 development. These animals come nearest, in general 

 structure, to the so-called Insectivorous Mammals, 

 such as the Mole, Shrew, and Hedgehog, and are, 

 therefore, usually regarded as forming an aberrant 

 group of that order. In them not only are the fore 

 and hind limbs of either side connected together by an 

 expansion of the skin of the sides to form a parachute, 

 but the expansion of the skin also extends backwards 

 between the hind legs, which it connects with the long 

 tail completely up to its tip. Moreover, although the 

 fingers and toes are only of the ordinary length, yet 

 they also are connected by a membrane, in the manner 

 of the webbed foot of a duck. At night, during which 

 time they become active, the Flying Lemurs will take 

 flights of upwards of seventy yards in length, and thus 

 far outstrip the Flying Squirrels and Phalangers in 

 this respect. Bats, as we shall notice shortly, are 

 known to be closely allied to the Insectivores, and the 



