174 



VESPEKTILIONIDJE. 



Hub. The Australian Region ; from the island of Timor to Tas- 

 mania, from West Australia to the Fiji Islands. 



N. timoriensis, as above remarked, appears to vary in size, in the 

 colour of the fur, and in the development of the glandular pro- 

 minence behind the smaU nose-leaf. It is diiScult with so few well- 

 preserved specimens to say whether these differences are due to age 

 or sex, or whether they are characters of distinct races of this 

 species. In the smaller specimens the sagittal and occipital ridges 

 are scarcely developed, and in them also the transverse striae of the 

 ear-conch appear less well marked, the groove along the centre of 

 the glandular elevation behind the nose-leaf better defined, and the 

 fur of the under surface of the body paler in colour. This might 

 seem to be sufficient to separate the smaller specimens into a distinct 

 species, as Tomes has done ; but so many intermediate forms unite 

 them to the larger examples that it is impossible to say to which 

 species some of the specimens should be referred were this attempted 

 to be carried out. 



The depth of the sulci of the ear-conch, on which so much stress 

 is laid by Tomes as a diagnostic character, appears to depend 

 altogether on either age or the manner of preservation. Young 

 animals have the transverse lines much less distinct, and they are 

 always especially well marked in specimens which have been pre- 

 served in strong alcohol. In all other species of Bats the depth of 

 the cranial ridges increases with age, in some cases to a very re- 

 markable extent, and in this species there is evidently no exception 

 to the rule. 



At furthest, should the characters described by Tomes prove to 

 be permanent at aU ages, they could only be considered indicative 

 of different races of N. timoriensis, for the resemblances in all other 

 respects are too close to allow separation into distinct species. 



a. c? ad., al. Islands of Torres Straits. 



6. sk. Albany Island, Cape York. 



c-e. (5 & ? ad., al. Cape York. 



/. <S ad., al. North-Australian Expedi- 

 tion. 



g, h. (J & 2 ad., al. Port Essington. 



i. (J ad., al. Port Essington. 



;. sk.* W. Australia. 



k-o. sks. 

 p. cJ ad., al. 

 q. 5 imm 



Purchased. 



Purchased. 



Dr. J. R. Elsey [0.]. 



Earl of Derby [P.]. 

 Mr. Allen [C.]. 

 Voy. ' Erebus ' and 

 'Terror.' 



W. AiLstralia. 

 W. Australia. 

 al. (Labelled " Nyctophilvs 



leacMi, Gray.") 



r. 5 ad., al. Peak Downs, Queensland. Purchased, 



s. sk. Moreton Bay. 



(Type of Nyctophilus gouldii, Tomes.) 

 t. $ imm., al. Rockhampton. 



«. sk. Perth, W. Australia. 



V, If. sk. King George's Sound. 



* Figured in Voyage of ' Erebus ' and ' Terror. 



