THE ROUSSETTE BATS. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



The Hair, on the head, pure white and brown ; on the neck, pale 

 yellow ; on the shoulders, white; and on the back, grey. 



The Membranes brown above, white beneath. The Interfemoral 

 hid by the fur. 



Inhabits Island of Ternate. 



The Masked Roussette is of the same dimensions as the Grey. The 

 ears are of medium length, somewhat rounded at the point ; the interfe- 

 moral membranes are rudimentary; the upper portion being quite hid by 

 the fur ; all the membranes are brown above and whitish beneath. The 

 upper incisors are well arranged, and in pairs ; the lower are separate, 

 very slender, short, and obtuse ; there is a small anormal tooth in both 

 jaws, the upper scarcely visible. The head of this species is strikingly 

 marked with pure white and brown. Pure white covers the whole chan- 

 frin, extends beyond the eye, and forms a spot behind it ; the cheek9, 

 margin of the lips and chin, are of the same colour; a broad brown zone 

 covers the throat ; the extremities of this zone surround the cheeks and 

 extend to the nostrils. The crown, occiput, neck, and cheek, are of a 

 pale yellow hue ; the shoulders and hairs of the arm are white, those 

 of the back are grey, mixed with brown ; the chest, abdomen, and 

 sides, have downy hair, brown at their base, and of an isabelle hue at the 

 point. 



We owe the discovery of this beautiful species to Professor Rein- 

 wardt, who described it in his Voyages aux Moluques. Its habits have 

 not been observed. 



21. PTEROPUS LABIATUS.— LONG-LIPPED ROUSSETTE. 



Syn. Roussette Labiaire Pteropus Labiatus. — Temm. Mon. Mam. II. 



p. 83. 

 Icon. Roussette Labiaire. — Temm. Mon. Mam. II. pi. 39, 6g. 1, 2, (male,) 



3, (femelle.) 



specific characters. 



The Hair, on the chest and sides, light red ; on the abdomen, white ; 

 a white tuft on each side of the neck, in the male only. 



The Lips greatly elongated in the male only. 



The Membranes brown. The Interfemoral rudimentary. The 

 Ai.ar commencing from the sides. The Ears very long and pointed. 



Inhabits Abyssinia. 



This beautiful Roussette, the male of which is remarkable for the ex- 

 treme length of its bunch of oily hair, and the elongation of the two lips, 

 is of the size of the Common Bat of English writers, V. Murinus. The 

 muzzle is long; the incisors slender and in contact; a narrow membrane- 

 ous appendix supplies the place of the interfemoral, which is throughout 

 hid, and nearly clad by the fur ; the alar membrane proceeds directly from 

 the sides ; the ears are long and pointed. There is a downy fur over the 

 whole body, particularly on the back. The lips of the male project se- 

 veral lines beyond the teeth, and as completely hide the gape of the 

 mouth as in some large mastiffs, producing a singular physiognomy. The 

 downy fur clothes all the humeral region, and the margin of the alar mem- 

 brane adhering to the sides ; this, and that of the head, short, and not 

 very abundant, is of a reddish isabelle hue, redder upon the back and 

 crupper; the root of the ears, and their posterior margins, are covered with 

 white hairs. From each side of the neck, of a reddish-brown colour, 

 there arises a large pure white tuft of long hair; these large tufts, proba- 

 bly covering as usual an unctuous apparatus, form two bunches, the 

 hairs of which diverge as from a common centre. The chest, humeral 

 region, sides, and coccygeal region, are of a light red ; the middle of the 

 abdomen, where the hair is short and smooth, is of a dull white. All 

 the membranes have the colour of a decayed leaf. 



The female is destitute of the cervical tuft, and labial peculiarity, but is 

 nearly the same in regard to the markings. 



M. Botta presented to the Paris Museum two individuals of this new 

 and beautiful species, discovered in his Abyssinian travels. The Leyden 

 specimens were derived, one, without label, from London, and the other 

 from M. Botta's collection. 



(B.) Tailed Roussettes. (Roussettes avec 

 une petite Queue.) 



M. Geoffroy was the first to describe the species of this subdi- 

 vision. One of them (Pteropus 2Egyptiacus) is found in Egypt in 

 the cavities of the Pyramids, and another, with a tail not quite so 



long, and engaged to about the extent of a half in the membrane, 

 (Pter. amplexieaudatus,) comes from the Indian Archipelago. 



The section of the Tailed Roussettes is distinguished from the previous 

 one by other characteristics than that expressed by their name ; for in them 

 we find that the one half of the thumb is engaged in the alar membrane, 

 and the mammae are placed higher up than the insertion of the arms ; 

 while in the Tailless Roussettes, the whole of the thumb is free, and the 

 mammae are placed underneath the insertion of the humerus. All the 

 species comprehended in this section are likewise small, or of medium 

 size. M. Isidore Geoffroy informs us that he has examined the 

 crania of the majority of them, and found some interesting characters 

 which seem to be common to them all. In the species without a tail, 

 the cerebral cavity is separated from the face by a considerable con- 

 traction, corresponding in situation to the posterior part of the orbit, 

 whilst in those which have this appendage, there is no appearance of the 

 contraction, as M. Geoffroy had previously remarked in the Pteropus 

 marginatus. In these last, moreover, the cranium is somewhat more de- 

 veloped, and the muzzle is not so slender. The dental system presents 

 no particular character. The small false molar is usually found in the 

 upper jaw, but very insignificant and almost useless, whilst it is often quite 

 wanting in other species. These distinctions are more conspicuous in the 

 smaller species than in the larger. 



22. PTEROPUS STRAMINEUS.— STRAW-COLOURED 

 ROUSSETTE. 



Syn. La Roussette Paillee.— Pteropus Stramineus. — Geoff. Ann. Mus. 



XV. 95.— Temm. Mon. Mam. I. 195, II. 84 Isid. Geoff, in 



Diet. Class. d'Hist. Nat. (art. Roussette.) 

 Icon. Temm. Mon. Mam. pi. 15, fig. 12 and 13, (teeth and cranium.) 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



The Hair dull yellow above, greyish beneath ; a demi-collar of golden- 

 red hairs on the sides and front of the neck in the males only. 

 The Tail very short. 

 Inhabits Sennaar and Senegal. 



For a long time this Bat was thought to be an inhabitant of the island 

 of Timor, and it is still generally described as derived from that locality. 

 There would appear, however, to be a mistake in this; and its resi- 

 dence is now ascertained to be Africa, in the neighbourhood of Sennaar 

 and Senegal. 



Though the total length is about eight inches, that of the tail does not 

 extend beyond two lines. In the adult male the fur is smooth, very short, 

 and thin. The region of the sides and front of the neck is adorned with 

 a demi-collar of golden-red hairs, which are diverging and unctuous, and 

 confined to the males. In the fem.ile these parts are of a dull yellow 

 colour, more or less clouded with light brown. The rest of the fur 

 is the same in both sexes. Above it is yellowish, or of a dull white, 

 the points of the hairs being brown or ash-coloured ; yellow prevails 

 about the ears ; the middle part of the chest and of the belly is grey, 

 clouded with brown; the remainder of the inferior parts, and the under 

 parts of the legs and wings, are of a dull pale yellow. 



23. PTEROPUS .EGYPTIACUS EGYPTIAN ROUSSETTE. 



Sun. Pteropus iEGYPTiACUs. — Geoff. Ann. Mus. XV. 95. 



Roussette Geoffroy. — Pteropus Geoffroyi. — Temm. Mon. Mam. 



I. 197 Isid. Geoff, in Diet. Class. 



Icon. Geoff.' Descr. d'Egypt. I. pi. 3, fig. 2. 



specific characters. 



The Hair short and woolly, dull grey, deeper above. The Membranes 

 brownish-grey. The Interfemoral broad. The Tail very short, one 

 half surrounded by the membrane. 



Inhabits Northern Africa and Senegal. 



M. Temminck, as appears in the synonyma, has proposed a name for 

 this species, different from that originally bestowed by M. Geoffroy, its 

 first describer, at the same time paying him a well-merited compliment. 

 The motive which influenced him was, that this Roussette was not confined 

 to Egypt, but extended widely throughout Africa. Now, though this con- 

 sideration, had it been known at the time, might have induced M. Geoffroy 

 to avoid the appellation, yet, having been once fairly affixed, it should be 

 preserved. The reasons for this are numerous and urgent, and quite suf- 

 ficient, we apprehend, to vindicate us for not following even the high au- 



» Geoff. Descr. d'Egypt— Description de l'Egypte, « Reenei' des Observations et des Re«herohes faite* pmdant l'expeditios de l'armee Franciise.— Paris, 1809, 

 et seq. 



VOL. II. 



