36 MAMMALIA ORDER ILCHIROPTERA. 



characteristics by which the sub-order is distinguished from the fruit-bats 



have been already noticed under the heading of the latter. As a family, the 



Khinolophidce ^are characterised by the presence of a weli- 



Horse-shoe and developed nose-leaf surrounding the nostrils, which are 



Leaf-nosed Bats, placed in a hollow on the muzzle, as well as by the large size 



Family of the ears, in which an inner tragus is wanting, and which 



Rhinolophidce. are generally quite separate from one another at the base. 



The greater horse-shoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrum-equiuum) is 



a familiar British representative of a very widely-spread genus, in which 



there are 32 teeth, and the nose-leaf consists of two portions, namely a 



horse-shoe-like moiety immediately over the nose, and a pointed one behind. 



In the leaf-nosed bats (Hipposiderus), which 

 have, likewise, a wide range, and are repre- 

 sented by a large number of species, the 

 hinder portion of the nose-leaf is not 

 pointed, and there is no median portion 

 concealing the nostrils ; while the teeth 

 are reduced to 30 or 28 in number. 

 There are no European representatives of 

 the f e A bats which range over Africa, Asia, 

 and Australia. The most curious member 

 of the whole family is the flower-nosed bat (Anthops oriiatus) of the Solomon 

 Islands, in which the whole front of the face, save the eyes and lips, is 

 covered with a complex and ornate membrane, forming a complete mask to 

 the countenance. 



The so-called false vampire bats (Megaderma) form one of two genera con- 

 stituting a family distinguished from the last by the presence of a large inner 

 tragus in the very long ears. In this genus, which is 

 False Vampire common to the Oriental countries and Africa, the muzzle is 

 Bats. Family surmounted by a rather tall nose-leaf ; whereas in the allied 

 NycteridcK. genus Nyctiris this appendage is almost wanting, and the 

 ears are not joined together to nearly such an extent as is 

 the case in the former, where their union extends nearly half their height. 

 With the exception of one Javan and Malayan species, and a second from 

 Egypt, all the members of the second genus are confined to Africa south of 

 the Sahara. 



The typical bats form an extensive family, with a large number of genera 

 and species, ranging over botli the Eastern and Western Hemispheres; and it 

 is to this family that all the British bats, with the exception 

 Typical Bats. of the two species of the genus Rhinolophus, and likewise 

 Family Vesper- the majority of those inhabiting Europe generally, belong. 

 tilionidce. In this family the nose-leaf is wanting, so that the nostrils 

 form simple crescentic or circular apertures at the end of 

 the muzzle ; the comparatively long tail is included in the membrane join- 

 ing the hind-legs, and extends to its free edge, and the ear has a distinct 

 inner tragus. In the upper jaw the incisor teeth, of which there may be 

 either one or two pairs, are of small size, and separated by a gap in the 

 middle line ; but, with one exception, there are three pairs of the corre- 

 sponding lower teeth. Over one hundred and fifty species are known. The 

 long-eared bats (Plecotus), of which there is one species from the northern 

 portion of the Old World, and a second from North America, constitute a 

 genus characterised by the great length of the delicate ears, which are united 



