CHIROPTERA. 781 



Europe, Asia, and N. America, dentition |^3 ; the moles ( Talpa\ 



throughout the Palsearctic region ; the tailless tenrec ( Centetes} 

 of Madagascar ; the S. African golden moles ( Chrysochloris], 

 probably the most primitive of all Eutheria ; the African jumping 

 shrew (Macroscelides] ; the Oriental tree-shrews (Tttpaia). 



Order GALEOPITHECID^: 



It seems justifiable to recognise a separate order for the very 

 divergent Galeopithecus , from the Malay Archipelago and the 

 Philippines. They are arboreal vegetarian animals. The fore- and 

 hind- limbs are connected by a parachute, and the animals can glide 

 from tree to tree, "sometimes traversing a space of seventy yards with 

 a descent of only about one in five." The structure of the incisors 

 is unique among Mammals. They are expanded laterally, compressed 

 from before backwards, and furnished with many cusps. The lower 

 are pectinated, the flattened crowns being penetrated by numerous 

 vertical slits, and the outer of the two upper pairs have double roots. 



The dentition is ^2. The molars are multicuspidate. The orbit 

 has an almost complete bony ring. There is a tympanic bulla. The 

 cerebral hemispheres have a few furrows. There is a simple stomach 

 and a large sacculated caecum. The testes are scrota), the penis 

 pendulous. There are two pairs of pectoral mammae, and one young 

 one at a birth. 



Order CHIROPTERA. Bats 



Bats are specialised Mammals related to Insectivores. 

 They have the power of flight, the fore-limbs being modified 

 as wings. The wing is formed by a fold of skin which 

 usually begins from the shoulder, extends along the upper 

 margin of the arm to the base of the thumb, thence between 

 the long fingers, and along the sides of the body to the hind- 

 legs or even to the tail. Contrasted with the wing of a 

 bird, that of a bat has a rudimentary ulna beside a long 

 curved radius, a wrist with six bones, five free digits, four 

 of which have very long metacarpals, while the thumb is 

 short. The phalanges are usually reduced to two. The 

 pectoral girdle is strong ; there is a long curved clavicle, a 

 large triangular scapula, a long coracoid process ; the pre- 

 sternum bears a slight keel on which are inserted some of 

 the muscles used in flight. The thumb is always clawed ; 

 the other digits are unclawed, except in most frugivorous 

 bats, where the second digit bears a claw. 

 . The hind-limb is relatively short and weak, the pelvic 

 girdle is also weak, and in most cases the pubic symphysis 



