9. NOCTILTO. 393 



Group NOCTILIONES. 



9. NOCTILIO. 



Noctilio, Linncms, Syst. Nat. (ed. xii.) p. 88 (1776); Geoffroy, De- 

 script, de UEgypte, ii. p. 114 (1812); Spiv, Simiar. et Vespert. 

 Bresil. p. 57 (1823) ; Oi-ay, Mag. Zool iSf Bot. ii. p. 499 (1838); 

 Burmeister, Thieve Brasiliens, p. 68 (1854). 



Celaeno, Leach, Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 70 (1822). 



Ears arising separately from the sides of the head, the outer margin 

 terminating in a distinct antitragus in front of the base of the tragus ; 

 tragus longer than broad, with prominent tooth-like processes ; 

 apertures of the nostrils oval, close together, the extremity of 

 the nose projecting beyond the lower lip ; chin with raised cuta- 

 neous ridges ; third finger very long, the first phalanx extended (in 

 repose) in a line with the metacarpal bone ; general form of the wing 

 very similar to that of Emhallonura ; interfemoral membrane large, 

 extended in the expanded condition far beyond the short tail, which 

 perforates its basal third and appears upon its upper surface ; in the 

 perinseum (in the two species known), corresponding to the position 

 of the testicles, a large follicular glandular organ, with a corrugated 

 lining membrane, is placed on either side of the base of the penis 

 (vide infra, p. 896) ; females with a remarkably long clitoris, but 

 without glandular foUicles. 



Dentition. Inc. ^, c. j^, pm. 5^, m. ~^. 



Upper inner incisors unicuspidate, moderately long, in the centre 

 of the space between the canines ; outer incisor on each side very 

 small and in a plane posterior to the inner incisor ; premolars and 

 molars with very acute cusps, the W-shaped cusps of the upper molars 

 projecting externally far beyond the lower molars when the jaws are 

 closed ; frontal bones small, flattened, no postorbital processes ; nasal 

 aperture small, directed forwards ; premaxillary bones slender, united 

 in the centre ; skull rather short and broad, with prominent mastoid 

 and paroccipital processes ; auditory hullm ossece large, separated by 

 a narrow and short basioccipital. 



Range. The tropical parts of the Neotropical Region. 



This genus, as I have previously remarked (Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 

 1875, xvi. p. 352), connects the subfamily Emhallonurince with the 

 Phyllostomidce through the Lohosiomina;. Its affinities with Chilo- 

 nycteris, and the genera allied thereto, are shown by the presence of 

 a small incisor on each side external to the large central upper in- 

 cisors, by the development of the mastoid and paroccipital processes, 

 by the short first phalanx of the middle finger, which is not flexed 

 upwards (in repose) on the dorsal surface of the metacarpal bone (as 

 in other species of Emhallonuridce), and by the erect cutaneous ridges 

 on the chin, and especially by the form of the nostrils and ears and 

 by the microscopical characters of the fur. 



In habits also the species resemble those of the Phyllostomidce. 

 Their food appears to be of a mixed character, probably chiefly con- 



