119 



The fur is soft and thick, of medium length, and rather faintly 

 hicoloured, both above and below. That of the Upper parts i> dark 

 brownish grey at the base, its terminal half paler and BtrOOgly 

 tinged with brown. Beneath it has similarly coloured runts, with 

 palish grey-brown tips. Such is the colour of the European ex- 

 amples. Those from Algeria are characterised by a strong ashy 



tinge over the whole of the fur, ami in some specimens the puhal 



region is wholly ash-coloured. Examples from Lake Ngama have all 

 the upper parts of tin- body of a deep brownish grey (similar in co- 

 lour to the roots of the hair in the European Bpeeimens), with the 

 extreme tips of the hairs slightly paler, but not browner. Beneath, 

 the fur is nearly black at its base, and tipped with ash colour; and 

 the latter colour prevails around the region of the pubes. The 

 Bpeeimens from this locality represent the Vetp. dosytkrta of M . 



Temminck, ami correspond pretty accurately with his description; 



but specimens from the Cape are described b\ Dr. A. Smith a- having 

 the upper parts "intermediate between chestnut-brown and yellowish 

 brown," and the under parts "dull pale brownish red, tinged with 

 wood-brown and yellowish brown, in places strongly tinted with 

 pale reddish orange." I have seen no African example of this 

 colour. 



The cerebral region of the skull is very much elevated, almost as 

 much so as inFuripterus, the evenness of its convexity being interfered 

 with only by a narrow transverse depression occupying the position 

 of the suture uniting the occipital with the parietal bones, by a 

 moderately developed sagittal ridge, most conspicuous on the frontal 

 region, and by an occipital crest of similar degree of development. 



The facial part of the cranium is very much depressed, and it is 

 also considerably compressed. The intermaxillary bones are, a- in 

 Furipterus, more developed than is usually the case among the 

 Vespertilionidee, affording sufficient Bpace for the incisors to be in- 

 serted in a nearly perpendicular position, and at the same time to 

 leave a considerable interval between them and the canines. I' i 

 worthy of remark, that in this, as in the crania of the other speou I 

 of the genus, the antorbital foramina are placed more forward than 

 usual, only just behind the canines. The nasal opening is rathe? 

 small, and the corresponding notch in the front of the palate pro- 

 portional to it in size. The orbit is small, and the zygomatic arches 

 nave a \ery moderate lateral curvature. As in oilier species having 

 a dome-shaped cranium, the condyloid fossa? are in aline high above 

 that of the teeth, and the zygoma in consequeno ' an angle 



from the line of the dental series and OS -•■- Upwards and backwards 



to the condyle. In those Bpecies which, like the common \ 

 have a flat cranium, with both the facial and cerebral BUrfao - in 

 oif continuous line, the dental Series and the BVgOmS are in nearly 

 a continuous line ah". 



The bony palate presents one peculiarity viz. that it ex- 



tends posteriorly beyond the last molar, whereas in the generalitj 

 of the VetperUUomda it reaches a> far backwards is balfway be* 



