148 BULLETIN 57, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



History. — The genus Sturnira has generally been associated with 

 the Stenodermatinse. Its tooth structure is so aberrant and highly 

 specialized, however, that it is more naturally placed in a special sub- 

 family. Dobson remarks that the molars resemble those of the fru- 

 giverous Pteropi more closely than those of any other [then known] 

 bats, a statement that would have been true if he had excepted the 

 mandibular teeth of Phyllonycteris. Winge passes the subject by 

 with the mere remark that he regards the cheek teeth of Sturnira and 

 Vampyrops as more primitive than those of the other Stenoderms, 

 owing to the usual persistence of m 3 , the large size of m 2 , and the 

 slight development of the upper cheek teeth. 



Principal subdivisions. — The genus Sturnira is the only member 

 of the subfamily yet known. 



Genus STURNIRA Gray. 

 1842. Sturnira Gbay, Ann. and Mag. Nat Hist, X, p. 257 (spectrum = 



lilium) . 

 1849. Nyctiplanus Gray, Proe. Zool. Soc. London, (1848), p. 58, January 30, 



1849 (rotundatus = lilium). 

 1878. Sturnira Dobson, Catal. Chiropt Brit. Mus., p. 538. 



Type-species. — Sturnira spectrum Gray = Phyllostoma lilium 

 Geoffrey. 



Geographic distribution. — Tropical America, north to Jamaica and 

 southern Mexico. 



Number of forms. — Only the type species is now recognized. 



Characters. — Dental formula (Plates III, IV, fig. 3) : 

 -23.1.--34567 . 2-2 1-1 2-2 3-3 



12-. 1.-2-4567*2-2' c 1-V^ m 2-2' m 3-3 -,i 

 Upper incisors large, subequal in cross section, completely filling 

 space between canines. Inner incisors with crowns higher than long, 

 slightly oblique, strongly in contact near middle, the front surface 

 convex, the posterior surface concave, the cutting edge entire or with 

 the faintest possible suggestion of a terminal emargination. Outer 

 incisors extending barely beyond cingulum of canine, longer than 

 high; the crown broadly concave in front, narrowly convex behind, 

 its cutting edge sharp, rising to an angular point at middle. Lower 

 incisors small, closely crowded in a nearly straight line between 

 canines, the roots projecting forward, the crowns rising perpendicu- 

 larly at a distinct angle with roots; crowns of inner pair with narrow 

 backward extension; cutting edge of all four teeth uniformly tri- 

 lobate, the lobes equal. Canines strong, the upper more than half as 

 long as high, the lower more slender and with narrow but distinct 

 posterior heel. Inner surface, of upper canine strongly concave. 

 Premolars simple, rather low, each with an outer cusp and inner con- 

 cavity. Upper molars quadratic in outline, slightly broader than 

 long, the main portion of the crown occupied by a deep longitudinal 



