A REMARKABLE NEW FREE-TAILED BAT. 89 



Tyj90.— Adult female, B.M., Nos. 12, 11, 24, 1. Collected 

 15th October 1912 by S. H. Prater. Presented to the National 

 Museum by the Bombay Natural History Societ3^ 



This handsome bat forms one of the most showy and striking 

 discoveries of recent years, so far as Indian Mammalogj^ is con- 

 <3erned, and it is with great pleasure that I attach to it the name 

 of my friend Mr. R. C. Wroughton, the prime-mover and manager 

 — at least at the English end — of the Bombay Society's Mammal 

 Survey, and the author of the reports that have appeared on the 

 results. Mr. Wroughton's keen co-operation in all the Mammal 

 work that has been done in the British Museum has been of the 

 greatest service to us, and his coming temporarj^ absence will be 

 greatly felt hj those who have been wont to rely with confidence 

 on his knowledge and labours for anything connected with either 

 Indian or African Mammalogy. 



Niictinomus ivroughtoni as a species is readily distinguishable 

 by its great size, its strikingly contrasted coloration, its large ears 

 with aborted antitragus and by the various cranial and dental 

 peculiarities above enumerated. 



In size, as gauged hj the forearm, it is the largest of the genus 

 Nyctinomus, and of the Family Molossidce is only exceeded by 

 Cheiromeles torquatus and Promops ijerotis and trumhulU. The 

 nearest approach to it in Kydinomtis is made by .N. raartiensseni, 

 Matschie, of German East Africa, which has a forearm of 66mm., 

 somewhat similar coloration and similarly aborted antitragus. 

 Indeed when the cranial characters of this bat are known we may 

 find it is really the nearest ally of N'. wroughtoni, just as the East 

 African Tapliozous hildegardece is related to the Indian T. 

 melanopogon. 



But the most important feature about the discovery of N. 

 ivroughtoni is the upset it causes in the current grouping of the 

 bats which were formerlj^ included in Nyctinomus, but which have 

 of recent years, notably b}" Miller, been divided into two genera, 

 Nyctinmnus and " ChcerejjJion,'' according to the characters of the 

 premaxillae, those with these bones separated being ptit into 

 Nyctinomus and those with them undivided into " Ghcerephon. " 



It may first be noted that if this grouping were followed the 

 name of Chcerephon (1874) should be replaced by that of Mops, 

 (Lesson 1842), the tj^pe of the latter, Dysopes mops, F. Cuv., being 

 a member of "O/icerep/io^?," with united jDremaxillas and all the 

 other characters of the most typical members of that group. 



But secondl}" the peculiarities of N. ivroughtoni convince me that 

 this character of the premaxilige is not here one of generic value, 

 for while the new species has the closed premaxillfe of Mops, all 

 its other characters are those of typical Nycti)iomus, and it is 

 evident that either Nyctinomus and Moj^s must be united, or some 



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