NORTH AMERICA AND THE WEST INDIES 25 



sionally the weight of the suspended Bat dislodges the ripe 

 fruit, and it falls to the ground, splitting with the shock. On 

 picking it up we see that it has been just bitten, not gnawed as 

 by the rodent incisors of a mouse, but nibbled in a ragged 

 manner." No doubt several species of fruit-eating bats visit 

 these trees for the feast. 



What may be the present status of this bat does not seem to 

 be known. However, it is evidently rare in collections, whether 

 from actual scarcity or through failure of visitors to capture it. 

 On account of its island habitat and the intensive agriculture 

 carried on in Jamaica, it is likely to become reduced in numbers 

 as time goes on. 



STENODERMA RUFUM Geoffroy 



Stenoderma rufum E. Geoffroy, Description de 1'Egypte, vol. 2, p. 114, 1818 (locality 



unknown). 

 SYNONYM: Artibaeus undatus Gervais, in Exped. Amer. du Sud de Castelnau, Zool., 



Mamm., p. 35, pi. 9, fig. 3 (teeth), 1855. 

 FIGS.: Peters, 1876, pi. 1, figs. 1-3; Anthony, H. E., 1918, fig. 10 (skull and teeth). 



This small fruit-eating bat was described 125 years ago from 

 a specimen in the Paris Museum, but unfortunately there was 

 no record of its place of origin. Since that time no other living 

 specimen has been taken, and its habitat has remained un- 

 known. In 1918, however, Dr. H. E. Anthony recorded the 

 discovery of over two dozen "good-sized fragments of skulls, 

 some nearly complete, " during his excavations in the Cathedral 

 Cave near Morovis, Puerto Rico. The presumption is thus 

 strengthened that the real home of the species was the Greater 

 Antilles, perhaps Puerto Rico. 



In life this bat doubtless resembled somewhat the larger 

 Artibeus, found in the same region, but the skull differs mark- 

 edly in its short, broad rostrum, which, with its parallel and 

 short tooth rows, is nearly square as seen from below. The 

 median notch of the palate extends far forward to the level of 

 the middle of the first molar. The incisors and upper canines 

 form together a nearly transverse row, while the last molar, 

 both above and below, is very small. The first two upper 

 molars are broad for crushing and show little trace of the four 

 primitive cusps. Total length of skull, exclusive of incisors, 

 23.1 mm.; zygomatic width, 15.7. 



Since no other living examples of this small fruit bat have 

 been found since it was first made known by Geoffroy, it is 



