84 BULLETIN 57, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



proximal phalanx of third finger. In all the known genera the tail 

 perforates the interfemoral membrane and appears on its upper sur- 

 face distinctly back from the edge. 



Next. to the Khinopomidse the Emballonuridae appear to combine 

 the greatest number of primitive characters with the least degree of 

 specialization. The head of the humerus is nearly as in Rhinopoma. 

 As in the Bhinopomidaj the premaxillaries retain their Pteropine 

 condition of freedom ; while another character pointing in the same 

 direction is seen in the long, curved postorbital processes. On the 

 other hand, the index finger has completely lost its phalanges and a 

 curious specialization appears in the flexing forward of the proximal 

 phalanx of the third finger. The other portions of the skeleton as 

 well as the general external structure are neutral. 



History. — This family was first recognized as a distinct group by 

 Gervais in 1855. It was treated by him as a tribe of the Vesper- 

 tilionidse under the name Emballonurina, and was composed of 

 Vrocryptus (=Saccopteryx) , Diclidurus, Emballonura, Proboscidea 

 ( =Rhynchiscus) , Centronycteris, and Furia ( =Furipterus) . Except 

 for its subordinate rank it was therefore essentially the same as the 

 present family Emballonuridse, the only difference being the inclusion 

 of the genus Furipterus, a member of the family Furipteridse. Ten 

 years later Peters enlarged the group by adding the genera Mysta- 

 cina (=Mystacops) , representing the family Mystacopidse, and Noc- 

 tilio, representing the family Noctilionidse. He also discarded or 

 overlooked the name proposed by Gervais, and substituted the new 

 term Brachyura." Gray, in 1866, practically returned to the classi- 

 fication of Gervais, but improved it by eliminating Furipterus. He 

 also separated Diclidurus as a group Diclidurina, of equal rank with 

 the Emballonurina, Furipterina, and his eight other subdivisions of 

 the family Vespertilionidse. 6 Fitzinger placed the group, enlarged 

 by the addition of Chilonycteris, Mormoops, and Noctilio, as a sub- 

 family Noctiliones of the family Vespertilionidae (" Vespertiliones")."" 

 Gill returned to the more natural arrangement of Peters, but used 

 Gray's name Noctilionida?." 7 In 1875 Dobson combined the Brachy- 

 ura and Molossi of Peters to form the family Emballonuridse. This 

 strikingly artificial assemblage has been accepted as a family by most 

 recent authors. Both Winge e and Harrison Allen/ however, re- 



aMonatsber. k. preuss. Akad: Wissensch., Berlin, 1865, pp. 257-258. 



» Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 3d ser., XVII, pp. 92-93, February, 1866. 



c Sitzungsber. k. Akad. Wissensch., Wien, Math. Nat. CI., LXI, Abth. 1, pp. 

 458-530, 715-828; LXII, Abth. 1, pp. 13-66. 



<* Arrangement of the Families of Mammals, p. 17, November, 1872. 



"Jordfundne og nulevende Flagermus (Chiroptera) fra Lagoa Santa, Minas 

 Geraes, Brasilien, p. 24, 1892. 



t Monograph of the Bats of North America ( 1893 ) , p. 162, March 14, 1894. 



