82 CHARACTERS OF VERTEBRATE ANIMALS 



includes the so-called Flying-foxes, which are natives of the 

 Old World, Australia, and the South Sea Islands. The cheek- 

 teeth have flattened crowns adapted for chewing, and there is 

 generally a claw on the first finger as well as on the thumb. A 

 typical species is the Kalong (Pteropus edulis) of the East Indies. 



The Insect-eating Bats are by far the larger section, and 

 include all our undoubted native species, twelve in number. All 

 the cheek-teeth have sharp-pointed crowns, there is a claw on 

 the thumb only, and the snout is shorter than in the fruit- 

 eating forms. There are two families: The True Bats (Ves- 

 pertilionidae) and the Leaf-nosed Bats (Phyllostomata). 



In the True Bats (Vespertilionidae), which are cosmopolite, 

 the nose is simple in form, but there is a sensitive pointed 

 projection from inside the ear to which the name of " earlet " 

 (tragus) has been given. 



A common British kind is the Long-eared Bat (Plecotus 

 auritus) (fig. 51), abundant in the wooded regions of Europe, 

 and ranging as far as India. 



The European kinds which possess the greatest powers of 

 flight belong to the genus Vesperugo^ and include the Noctule 

 ( V. noctuld) and the Pipistrelle ( V. pipistrellus], which are re- 

 spectively the largest and smallest of our native species. 1 



The Leaf -nosed Bats (Phyllostomata) are for the most part 

 natives of the tropics, and differ from the preceding family in 

 the possession of outgrowths from the nose, which serve ap- 

 parently as special organs of touch. The food is not limited 

 to insects, but may also include fruit, and some of them attack 

 birds and mammals of other groups. A comparatively small 

 and simple nose-leaf is found in the cave-inhabiting form to 

 which reference is frequently made in works on Egyptian ex- 

 ploration {Rhinopoma microphyllum). A larger nose -leaf is 

 present in the South American Vampires, which have earned 

 an unenviable notoriety on account of their blood-sucking pro- 

 pensities, though an enormous grain of salt must be added to 

 the numerous legends and stories which are current. The 

 largest species is the True Vampire (Phyllosioma spectrum}, 

 which with its sharp front teeth is able to inflict a small wound 



1 The remaining British members of the family, omitting doubtful cases, are: Hairy-armed Bat 

 {Viesptrttgo Leisleri), Serotine Bat ( V. seroiinus], Bechstein's Bat (Vespertilio Bechsteini}, Natterer's 

 Bat (V. Nattereri), Daubentin's Bat (V. Daubentini), Whiskered Bat (V. mystadnus), and the 

 Barbastelle (Synotus barbastellus}. 



