STENODERMA.— DICLIDURUS.— NOCTILIO. 



21 



GENUS VIL STENODERMA— NARROW-BANDED 

 BATS. 



Syn. STENODERMA. — Gooff, in Mem. de l'lnstit. d'Egypte Hist. Nat. II. — 

 Desm. Mam. p. 117. — Temm. Mori. Mam. II. 50. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



The Ears small, lateral, isolated, with an auricular operculum. 



The Interfkmoral Membrane rudimentary, lining the thighs like a 



band. 



The Tail wanting. 



The Dental Formula varying according to age. 



Aduit? TScSWH 6 (G - CuvierJ 



• Inhabit 



To this place appears to belong a Genus of Bats, of which little is yet 

 known beyond the characters enumerated above. It consists of a single 

 species, the false molars of which are undetermined. 



1. STENODERMA RUFUM.— RED NARROW-BANDED BAT. 



Syn. STENODERMA RUFUM. — ^Geoff. in loc. cit. 

 Icon. Diet, des Sciences Naturelles, L. p. 499. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



The Hair uniform reddish-brown. The Ears middle-sized, oval, 

 slightly notched on their external margin. 

 Inhabits 



The length of this animal, of which nothing further is known, is about 

 three inches; the expansion of its wings eleven inches nearly. 



GENUS VIII. DICLIDURUS— BOX-TAILED BATS. 



Syn. Diclidurus Pr. Mar. Reise. — Abbild Beitr. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



The Head broad. The Muzzle pointed. 



The Ears broad, inserted over the eyes. 



The Tail consisting of two corneous valves, moveable and hollow; 

 the os coccyx entering the upper valve. 



The Interfemoral Membrane extending beneath and beyond the 

 caudal valves. 



t r. t- "I1 + C-HF+40M 14. .... 



The Dental Formula ^TcT^pT j.) M =r5= 32 1D t!le sm S le s P e " 



cimen examined by Prince Maximilian. 

 Inhabits Brazil. 



This genus consists at present of one species only. 



I. DICLIDURUS ALBUS — WHITE BOX-TAILED BAT. 



Syn. Diclidurus Frevreissii — Pr. Max. in Isis, 1819, p. 1629, Reise, II. p. 

 76. 



Diclidurus albus lb. — Beitr. II. 242. 



Icon. Diclidurus albus Pr. Max. Abbild. 



srEcinc characters. 



* The Hair bushy, long, and whitish. The Arms long and robust. 

 Inhabits Brazil. 



The White Box-Tailed Bat, the only one as yet referred to the 

 genus Diclidurus, is in various particulars strikingly different from the 

 nearest allied genera. The most remarkable feature unquestionably is 

 the tail, distinct from all other tails we have heard of. 



It is formed on the following plan : The coccygeal bones run out 

 jointed into two horny pieces, covered by the skin of the body, thus 

 forming a kind of box out of the two capsules or valves taken together. 

 The upper valve is shaped like a half moon, corneous, hollow, with 

 somewhat of a protuberant and thickened edge, and hence in all respects 

 is a hollow capsule. The lower valve smaller, somewhat triangular, 

 pointed, applied horizontally against the upper, is likewise covered by the 

 skin, and hollow. Both these corneous pieces are placed with their 

 flattest surfaces horizontally ; they are capable of moving upwards or 

 downwards, of separating from each other, and being closed or applied 

 to the body through a particularly fine membrane at their base. The 

 coccygeal bones proceed into the upper valve. 



The coat of the animal is white, and the box-like appendage is a 

 deep black. The latter extends but a little way down the interfemoral 



VOL. II. 



membrane, which in its mesial part is festooned up in a deep semicircle- 

 The tibia? are very slender; and the feet, the long muzzle, and upper 

 part of the face, are black ; the membranes are of a dark flesh colour. 

 The ears are short and broad, and overhang the eyes ; the fur is bushy, 

 composed of fine long whitish hair, and the arms are strong and long. 



This singular Bat was discovered by M. Freyreiss upon the cocoa-trees 

 near Canavievas, at the mouth of the Rio Pardo, where it concealed itself 

 during the day in the foliage of those majestic palms. Of its habits 

 nothing has been ascertained. The specimen is in the Neuwied 

 Museum. 



GENUS IX. NOCTILIO— HARE-LIPPED BATS. 



Syn. Les Noctilions. — Cuv. Reg. Anim. I. 



NOCTILIO. — Geoff. — Cuv. — Temm. et al.- 

 Vespertilio (in part.) — Linn. Gmel. I. 



-Pteropus Erxl. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



The Head broad. The Muzzle short, swelling, cleft, and furnished 

 with warts, or fleshy tubercles. 



The Nose confounded with the lips. The Nostrils almost tubular, 

 approximated, prominent. 



The Ears small, lateral, isolated, with the auricular operculum placed 



interiorly. 



t n p !|2+C+(F+3)M 14 



The Dental Formula |3^X^C__ = _ r 28. 



The Interfemoral Membrane very broad, projecting, eDtire, with 

 two prominent obtuse angles. The Tail mostly enveloped in the mem- 

 brane, but free at the point above. 



Inhabit South America. 



The Hare-lipped Bats have a short swelling muzzle, cleft like a 

 Hare-lip, and furnished with warts and uncouth fleshy tubercles ; 

 their ears are separate. They have four incisors above, and two 

 below ; their tail is short, and free above the interfemoral mem- 

 brane. 



1. NOCTILIO LEPOR1NUS — RUFOUS HARE-LIPPED BAT. 



Syn. Vespertilio Leporinus. — Linn. Gmel. I. 47. 



Noctilio Americanus Linn. Syst. Nat. (Ed. 12,) I. 88. 



Noctilio unicolor Pr. Max. Beitr. II. 223 — Desm. Mam. No. 



165. 

 Noctilio albiventer, (young.) — Desm. Mam. No. 167. 

 Noctilio dorsatus. — Pr. Max. Beitr. II. 218. 

 Peruvian Bat. — Penn. Quadr. II. No. 500. — Shaw, Gen. Zool. I. 



139. 

 Noctilio vtttatus. — Schinz Thierr. I. 170. 

 Icon. Vespertilio Leporinus. — Schreb. Saiigth. pi. 60. 

 Noctilio unicolor — Pr. Max. Abbild. 

 Noctilio dorsatus. — Pr. Max. Abbild. (var.) 

 Noctilio albiventer, (young.) — Spix, Sim. et Vesp. Bras. pi. 35, fig. 



2 and 3. 

 Noctilio rufus. — Spix, Sim. et Vespert. Bras. pi. 35, fig. 1. 



specific characters. 



The Hair uniform reddish-yellow above, paler beneath. 

 Inhabits South America. 



Though this large and beautiful Bat has been long known, there is by 

 no means all the accuracy and satisfaction concerning its appearance and 

 history which is desirable. The difference between the only British 

 representation of the animal which exists (Shaw's) and the foreign ones is 

 so great, that they would never be taken for the same animal ; and the 

 shades of colour given in the plates of Schreber, and the albiventer and 

 dorsatus of Prince Maximilian, are respectively pale straw coloured, light 

 tobacco brown, and a very dark, almost black brown. Of its habits we 

 have seen no account ; and no description equal to that of the accurate 

 Azara, which we, therefore, embody in our pages. 



The celebrated Spaniard tells us he had been in possession of many of 

 these animals, and that they were strikingly similar to each other. He 

 gives the length of the body at five inches, the tail one; and the expanse 

 across the wings scarcely two feet, whilst our English authorities make it of 

 " the size of a middling rat, and the extent of the wings two feet five inches." 

 The fur underneath, says Azara, (Quad. Parag. II. 280,) is of the colour of 

 pale Seville tobacco ; it is the same above, but mixed with brown, and alon" 

 the back-bone there is a streak of a lighter colour. The interfemoral mem- 

 brane originates as high up as the ankle, and the a'ar from the middle of the 

 tibia:, a striking character in which most of the figures agree. The mem. 



