PHYLLOSTOMATJD^E 675 



they are deciduous even in youth. The zygomatic arch is wanting 

 in Phyllonyderis, Glossonycteris, and Chceronyderis. 



The typical species is Glossophaga soricina, which so closely 

 resembles Hemiderma brevicauda, both in external form and dentition, 

 that it has frequently been confounded with it. Its long fimbriated 

 tongue, which it possesses in common with other species of the 

 division, led Spix to 

 describe it as a blood- 

 sucker, believing that 

 this organ was used to 

 increase the flow of 

 blood. This view is, 

 however, without found- 

 ation, and from later 

 observations it is evident 



that the Peculiarly ^ I0 ' ^~' Head f Chteronycteris mexicana, shoving 

 , j fimbriated tongue. (Dobson, Cat. Chiropt. Brit. Mus.) 



shaped tongue is used 



by the animal to lick out the pulpy contents of fruits having hard 

 rinds. The food of the species of this division appears to consist 

 of both fruit and insects, and the long tongue may also be used for 

 extracting the latter from the deep corollas of certain flowers. This 

 type of tongue is shown in the woodcut of the head of Chceronyderis 

 (Fig. 320); and it is paralleled among the Megachiroptera by the 

 Carponycteriine Pteropodidce. 



The Stenodermatine division is characterised by the muzzle being 

 very short and generally broad in front, the distance between the 

 eyes nearly always exceeding (rarely equal to) that from the eye to 

 the extremity of the muzzle ; nose-leaf short, horse-shoe shaped in 

 front, lanceolate behind (except in Brachyphylla and Centurio) ; 

 interfemoral membrane always concave behind ; tail none ; inner 

 margin of the lips fringed with conical papillae. Dentition : 

 * ~2^T> P f m !=I > the number of the molars being either f , f , 

 or f in different species ; premolars and molars very broad (except 

 in Sturnira), the latter with concave or flat crowns margined exter- 

 nally by raised cutting-edges. Although the members of this division 

 are usually distinguished from those of the Vampirine division by 

 the peculiar shortness and breadth of the muzzle and the form of 

 the molars, yet certain species of the latter closely resemble those 

 of the former in external appearance, agreeing almost absolutely in 

 the form of the nose-leaf, of the ears and tragus, and of the warts 

 on the chin. These resemblances indicate that, while the form of 

 the teeth and jaws has become modified to suit the nature of the 

 food, the external characters, being but slightly affected by this 

 cause, have remained much the same. The food of these Bats 

 appears to be wholly or in great part fruit. The twenty species 

 have been grouped into nine genera, distinguished by the form of 



