662 CHIROPTERA 



aginous process derived from the calcar) may act as a kind of 

 adhesive disc in securing the animal's grasp when climbing over 

 smooth surfaces. Vesperugo probably contains the greatest number 

 of individuals among the genera of Chiroptera, and, with the excep- 

 tion of Vespertilio, its species have also the widest geographical 

 range, being almost cosmopolitan; and one of the species, the well- 

 known Serotine (V. [F'esperus] serotinus) is remarkable as the only 

 species of Bat known to inhabit both the Old and the New World ; 

 one (V. borealis) has been found close to the limits of the Arctic 

 circle, and another (V. magellanicus) inhabits the cold and desolate 

 shores of the Straits of Magellan, being doubtless the Bat referred 

 to by Mr. Darwin in the Naturalist's Voyage. The Common Pipis- 

 trelle (V.pipistrellus), ranging over the greater part of the Palsearctic 

 region, is the best known species. 



Chalinolobus. 1 This genus agrees with Vesperugo in the dental 

 formula, but is readily distinguished by the presence of a well- 

 defined lobe projecting near the angle of the mouth from the lower 

 lip, and by the unicuspidate first upper incisor. The species fall 

 into two subgenera Chalinolobus proper, with p -f, represented by 

 C. morio from New Zealand, Tasmania, and Australia, and three 

 other species from Australia ; and Glaiiconycteris, with p J, limited 

 to Southern and Equatorial Africa, and known by C. argentatus and 

 two other species, the Bats of this subgenus being especially remark- 

 able for their peculiarly thin membranes, traversed by very distinct 

 reticulations and parallel lines. 



Scotophilus.- Dentition : i ^, c ^, p , m ; total 30. This 

 genus comprises a comparatively small number of species nearly 

 allied to Vesperugo, and some* of which 

 approach so closely to the aberrant types of 

 the latter ranged under the subgenus Scotozous, 

 as to render the definition of the present genus 

 almost impossible. 3 The species are restricted 

 to the tropical and subtropical regions of the 

 eastern hemisphere, though widely distributed 

 within these limits. The more typical species 

 FIG. 3os. Head of Scoto- are distinguished especially by the single pair 



philus emarg\natus. (Dobson, . . J 11 



Monogr. Asiat. curopt.) of unicuspidate upper incisors separated by a 

 wide space and placed close to the canines, by 

 the small transverse first lower premolar squeezed in between the 

 canine and second premolar, and, generally, by their conical nearly 

 naked muzzles and remarkably thick leathery membranes. S. kuhli 

 is probably the commonest species of Bat in India, and appears 

 often on the wing even before the sun has touched the horizon, 



1 Peters, Monatsber. Ak. Berlin, 1866, p. 672. 



2 Leach, Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. xiii. p. 71 (1822). 



3 See 0. Thomas, Ann. Mus. Genova (2), vol. ix. pp. 84-88 (1890). 



