FISH-EATING BATS 



By recent systematists Bats are divided into two 

 great groups, generally regarded as sub-orders, 

 namely, the Megachiroptera, or large bats, chiefly 

 fruit-eaters, and the Microchiroptera, or small bats, 

 most of which are insectivorous, but some of which 

 are known to eat fruit. 



In the former group, out of some seventy species 

 recognised as distinct, more than one-half belong 

 to the genus Pteropus, of which examples may 

 always be seen in the Zoological Gardens. They 

 are characterised by a long, fox-like face (whence 

 the name " flying fox "), the ears simple and pointed 

 or very slightly rounded, the margins of the ear 

 meeting at the base, so as to form a circle, the nose 

 without any leaf-like appendages, the tail very 

 short or wanting, the interfemoral membrane,^ 

 which in our common bats incloses the tail, 

 reduced to very small dimensions, while the long 

 thumb, and in most cases the first finger also, is 

 armed with a strong claw. Finally, the molar 

 teeth have flattened crowns, with a central groove 

 in the direction of the length of the jaw. 



In the other sub-orders of bats, which contains 

 a much larger number of species (roughly speaking 

 about 330 different kinds have been described) 



234 



