58 



DiY. 1. VERTEBRATE ANIMALS.— MAMMALIA. Class 1. 



Vij;. 10.— IlcaJ o: Dysopus tenuis. 



The Dinops of M. Savi refers to 

 these Molossiues with six inferior 

 incisors. There is one of them in 

 Italy (Dinops ccstonii, Savi). 



M. Geoffrey has applied the name 

 Nyctonomus to those -ivliich have 

 four inferior incisors. 



The Molossines were at first dis- 

 covered only in America; but ve 

 now know several from both con- 

 tinents. Some of them have the 

 hinder thumb placed farther from 

 the other di?:its than these arc 



from each other, and capable of . , , j -n . ii„,. flni.i !,.,= 



separate motion; a character on whicli, in one species where it is very strongly marked, Dr. lloi .field has 

 established his n-euus Cheiromelcs [the ears of which, also, differ in being widely separated]. 



It is probable that we should also place here the Thyroptera of Spix, which appears to have several cha- 

 racters of the Molossines, and the thumb of which has a little concave palette peculiar to them (hg-. 10, a, oy 

 which they are enabled to cling more closely. [Several species of this genus agree in possessing this appendage, 



which is proportionally larger in the 

 young. 



As a whole, the group of Molossines is 

 extremely distinct and insulated, though 

 consisting of a vast number of species, 

 of which about twenty may be considered 

 established ; six or seven of these ap- 

 pertain to the eastern hemisphere. The 

 largest and most curious of them is 

 D. cheiyop!is,Tem.{Chch-07neIes, Horsf., 

 fig. 11), from Siani, which measures 

 nearly two feet across: it is quite naked, 

 with the exception of an abrupt collar 

 of hairs round the neck. 



Several have the upper lip laterally 

 pendent (fig. 10), whence the name 

 Molosstis or Mastiff; and the term 

 Dysopus refers to the toes being more 

 or less tufted with hair. The greater 

 number of species are from Urazil and 

 Paraguay.] 



Fig. 11. — Dysonufi cliL'iropufti 



TuK NocTULES {Noctilior'-, Lin. Ed. xii.) 

 Muzzle short, infiatcil, and split into a double hare-lip, marked with odd-looking wavts and grooves ; 

 cars separate ; four incisors ahove and two below ; tail short, and [possibly in some] free above the intcr- 

 fcmoral menibraue ; [limbs much elongated, the hinder very large and stout, and fnrnishcd with strong 

 claws ; the volar membranes are attached high upon the back, in some almost meeting dorsally, as in the 

 Cephalot and some Roussettes.] 



Tlic most generally known species is from America {Vesp. leportnus, Gm.), of a uniform fulvous. [Others 

 have been found on the same continent : and CWcc«o, Leach, was founded on an imperfect specimen, which is 

 still extant. The Noctules are allied to the true I5ats (Vespcrtilio) ; and a group which appears to be somewhat 

 intermediate, but with a more elongated muzzle, is the Emballonura, Kuhl (Proboscidea, Spix), of which four 

 ■pccies have been described from South America, and a fifth from Java. Pteronotus, Gray, is probably a Noctule, 

 with a longer tail than usual ; and M^jptcri/!, Geoff., and also Actio, Leach, do not seem to differ essentially.] 



The PiiYi.LOSTOMES {Phyllostoma, Cuv. and Geoff.) 

 Tlie regular number of incisors is four to each jaw, but some of the lower ones frequently fall, 

 being forced out by the growth of the canines ; [the second false molar is generally elongated] . They are, 

 niorrover, distinguished by tlic membrane, in the form of an upturned leaf, which is ))laccd across the 

 end of the nose. The tragus of their car (^fig. 12) resembles a leaflet, more or less indented. Their 

 tnngne, which is very extensile, is terminated by papilla?, which appear to be arranged so as to form 



• The (Ilriilon Neclilio WM unaccountably ranged by Llnnicas BmunR bis Glire:, or the Hodcntia of our autbcr.— E». 



