THREATS. 35 



short, and situated below the membrane between the hind-legs, with which it 

 may have no connection. In all cases the ears are small, and unprovided 

 with an inner tragus. Fruit-bats are confined to the warmer parts of the 

 Old World. 



The common fruit-bats, or fox-bats (Pteropus\ forming the typical re- 

 presentatives of the family, are characterised by their 

 long and fox-like faces, the presence of 34 teeth, f ~~^- 

 ihe absence of a tail, and the thick coat of woolly 

 fur on the neck ; all being of large size. These bats 

 inhabit the Oriental countries, Madagascar, New 

 Guinea, and Australia, but are unknown in Africa. 

 The long lines in which they wend their way to 

 their feeding-grounds at evening are well known to 

 all resitlenters in tropical countries. From this genus 

 the tailed fruit-bats (Xantharpyia) may be distinguished 

 by the presence of a short tail, which is connected with 

 the membrane between the legs, as well as by their 

 smaller size, duller colours, and the absence of any 

 difference between the fur of the neck and that of the 

 body. These bats are common to the Oriental countries, 

 Syria, Africa, and Madagascar. In Africa south of the 

 Sahara the place of the common fruit-bats is taken by 

 the epauletted fruit-bats (Epomophorus), so called from 

 the tufts of long hair on the shoulders of the males. Their large and elon- 

 gated heads have a bluntly conical or truncated muzzle, large, flabby, and 

 extensive lips, and a tuft of white hair on the margin of each ear. While 

 some are tailless, others have a short tail, unconnected with the leg-membrane. 

 The tufts of hair on the shoulders of the males arise from long pouches oil the 

 sides of the neck. These bats are most abundant on the West Coast, where the 

 single species of the allied genus Scotonycteris is also found. 



Another genus is formed by the short-nosed fruit-bats (Cynopterus), 

 ranging from India to the Philippine Islands, and distinguished by the short 

 and rounded muzzle, marked by a vertical groove, the reduction of the 

 teeth to 32 or 30, and their small size. Most of them have a short tail 

 connected with the membrane between the legs. Very curious are the two 

 species of tube -nosed fruit-bats (Harpyia), inhabiting the islands of 

 Celebes, New Guinea, North Australia, and New Ireland, and taking their 

 name from the production of the nostrils into a pair of tubes reaching a short 

 distance in advance of the blunt muzzle. Even more interesting is the cusp- 

 toothed fruit-bat (Pteralopex) of the Solomon Islands, since the cusps in its 

 molar teeth serve to indicate that all the fruit-bats have been derived from 

 insectivorous members of the order. Another group of the family, compris- 

 ing seven genera, among which Carponycteris may be selected as an example, 

 is distinguished by the great length of the extensile tongue, which terminates in 

 a number of papilla, and is probably employed for licking out the soft contents 

 of tropical fruits. Save that one species is found in West Africa, these bats 

 are confined to the Oriental and Australasian countries. They are all of com- 

 paratively small size, and have long and pointed faces, and the narrow molar 

 teeth scarcely projecting above the surface of the gums. 



This exclusively Old World family is the first group of the ordinary bats, or 

 Microchiroptera, in which the molar teeth are usually surmounted by a number 

 of sharp cusps, and the food generally consists of insects. The other leading 



