ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE CHIROPTERA. 161 



closely related to some of the species of the Neotropical genus Molossus 

 than to any of the Old World forms; and the same remark applies to 

 Nyctinomw) australis, which is characteristic of the Australian region. 



Although the Emballonuridae have as wide an eastwardly and west- 

 wardly distribution as the Vespertilionidas, yet they are far exceeded by 

 the latter family in their northern and southern range. While the 

 Vespertilionidae extend in the Northern hemisphere as far as the isothermal 

 of 32° Fahr. or thereabouts, the Emballonuridas are rarely found north or 

 south of the isothermal of 55°. 



The RhinolophidaB are limited to the Eastern hemisphere, and within 

 these limits the species have much less extended bounds than even those 

 of the preceding family. No species has as yet been recorded with cer- 

 tainty from the Polynesian subregion, from Tasmania, or from New 

 Zealand. With the exception of Rhinolophus ferrum-equinum, which 

 extends throughout the Ethiopian and warmer parts of the Patearctic 

 region, the species of this family inhabiting each of the zoological regions 

 comprised within the area of its distribution are distinct and charac- 

 teristic. No species of the subfamily Phyllorhinince extends into the 

 Palaearctic region ; Ccelops is limited to the Oriental region, and Rhino, 

 nyctens to the Australian ; these last two genera, however, include but 

 a single species each. The very remarkable forms Phyllorhina commer- 

 sonn^ and Ph. cyclops belong to the Ethiopian region, but the former 

 species alone extends int) the Malagasy subregion. 



The Nycterida? are limited to the Ethiopian and Oriental regions one 

 species only passing slightly beyond the limits of the latter region,' and 

 none have as yet been found in the Malagasy subregion of the former. 

 The Ethiopian species of the genus Megaderma are more closely related to 

 each other than to the Oriental species. The distribution of Nycteris is 

 remarkable : six species are limited to the Ethopian region, the seventh is 

 found m Java, and differs from all the rest in the large size of the second 

 lower premolar. 



The Phyllostomidas present the only instance of a family of Chiroptera 

 limited to a single zoological region. None of the species are known 

 with certainty to inhabit permanently any of the countries beyond the 

 recognized limits of the Neotropical region. This family is therefore 

 eminently characteristic of that region. Although Central America and 

 Southern Mexico have representatives of almost every genus of Phyllo- 

 stomidae, none of the species have been, with any certainty, recorded from 

 the Southern States of North America, though the mean annual tempera- 

 ture ot a great part of these countries equals or exceeds that of many 

 parts of South America where representatives of the family are abundant 

 It is worthy of note that Macrotus waterhousii, which has been alone found 

 as tar north as Cape St. Lucas in California, is apparently omnivorous 

 living indifferently on fruit, insects, and probably on small bats : and 

 rrachyops cirrhosus recorded doubtfully from South Carolina and from 

 .Bermuda, is evidently, judging from its structure, of the same habits 

 Ine power possessed by these species of varying their food evidently 

 renders them more capable of extending their range beyond the limits of 

 their original homes Few, if any, of the species of this family, in the 

 present state of our knowledge, can be said to be characteristic of any of 

 the JNeotropical subregions ; but certain species appear to be limited in 

 their distribution within the region. 



1878 6 Me S achiro P tera > ^presented by the single family Pteropodida?/ 



