CHORDATA 



397 



The second group of bats, often called the smaller bats, as the 

 average size is less than in the preceding, have the tail when 

 present included in the interfemoral membrane, and only one 

 claw on the fore limb, that being on the first digit. They are 

 for the most part insectivorous, but some feed upon fruits. 

 These bats are very widely distributed over the world, being 

 most abundant in the tropics, while some occur in temperate 

 regions. Some have curious leaflike outgrowths of the skin on 

 the snout, sensory in function, and naked like the wings. Such 

 bats are called nose-leafed. The snout is always short, not elon- 

 gated, as in the flying foxes. There are two small bats which 

 are very common in the eastern United States : the red bat, 

 Atalapha noveboracaisis ; and the brown bat, Vespertilio subit- 

 latus ; other species of this latter genus have a wide distribution 

 from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It is in the tropics, however, 

 that the greatest variations in shape and size occur. In Brazil 

 is found the false vampire bat, Wimpy rus spectrum, incorrectly 

 reputed to be a bloodsucker, — it feeds exclusively on fruits. 

 There are bats, however, which suck the blood of birds and 

 mammals, and so are true vampires. One of these, Desmodus 

 ntfus, is found in Brazil, Chile, and northward into Mexico; 

 Darwin reports it as biting horses. 



Order 8. Carnivora 



The Carnivora (Lat. carnivorus, flesh-eating, from caro, flesh, 

 and I'orare, to eat) may be called the beasts of prey ; they in- 

 clude the boldest and fiercest mammals, of quick intelligence, 

 and with the organs of special sense very keen as a rule. As 

 their name implies, they feed chiefly on other animals, although 

 some are to a considerable extent vegetarians. The body 

 usually has a thick covering of hair or fur ; the feet are four- or 

 five-toed, and the digits are armed with sharp claws in most 

 instances. The mammae are abdominal in position ; the testes 

 lie in a scrotum in the terrestrial Carnivora, internally in the 

 aquatic. All four kinds of teeth are present as a rule ; the 

 incisors are small, and the canines are well-developed, strong, 

 pointed, and more or less recurved ; the remaining teeth are 

 adapted for cutting rather than grinding. The milk dentition 



