ARTICLE XII. Description of a New Species of Big-eared Bat, 

 of the Genus Histiotus, from Southern California. By J. A. 

 ALLEN. 



The finding of a Big-eared Bat, of the South American genus 

 Histiotus Gerv., in Southern California, is a most unlocked for 

 occurrence, exceeding possibly in interest the recent discovery in 

 the same region of a species of Molossus, allied to M. perotis of 

 Brazil, by Dr. Merriam.* 



The specimen on which the present description is based was 

 " caught on a fence/' at Piru, in the western part of Ventura 

 County, California, in March, 1890, by Mr. Thomas Shooter. I 

 am indebted to the kind offices of Mr. E. C. Thurber, of 

 Alhambra, California, for the specimen, through whom it was 

 secured for the American Museum of Natural History. 



On attempting to remove the skull from the skin, the specimen 

 proved to be mummified, having been simply eviscerated and 

 allowed to dry. By careful treatment it yielded not only a good 

 skin, but the greater part of the skeleton and skull. Unfortu- 

 nately the sex of the specimen could not be determined, owing to 

 mutilation in the process of evisceration. The skull and dentition 

 show it to have been a rather young though doubtless full-grown 

 individual. 



Histiotus maculatus, sp. nov. 



Ears joined at the base, foliaceous, very large, twice as long as the head, 

 about one-half as broad as long, well fringed with whitish hairs along the inner 

 border, but elsewhere naked ; expanse from tip to tip, 76.2 mm. (3.00 in.). 

 The ears are convex on the inner border, broadly rounded at the tip ; outer 

 border convex on the basal half, slightly hollowed toward the tip. The inner 

 border near the base forms an obtuse angle ; the outer border is continued as a 

 low fold to a point below the angle of the mouth. The tragus expands abruptly 

 on the outer border at the end of the basal fourth, at which point it also has an 

 abrupt lateral deflection, the inner border forming an obtuse angle about opposite 

 the beginning of the basal third. The upper three-fourths of the tragus is 

 straight on the inner border, convex on the outer, and very obtusely rounded at 

 the top. Nostrils prominent, at the end of a narrow, low, naked disk, divided 

 by a slight groove, and narrowing posteriorly to a point. Rest of the face well 



* Description of a New Species of Molossus from California (Molossus calif ornicus). By 

 Dr. C. Hart Merriam. North American Fauna, No. 4, Oct. 8, 1890, p. 31. 



{February, i8qi.~\ [195] 



