H 



ZOOLOGICAL 



feeds upon the cane, but also upon the wood-boring larva? affecting it. These 

 it draws from their holes by the aid of its extremely slender third finger, 

 which is specially adapted for the purpose. 



ORDER CHIROPTERA (Bats ; 858 Species). 



The animals comprised in this Order are the only Mammals which are 

 capable of true flight, and, as might be expected from the possession of such 

 an effective method of locomotion, they are extremely widely distributed, 

 being found in all parts of the world— many oceanic islands, included— from 

 the Arctic circle southwards. Moreover, in some islands (including New 

 -Zealand), they are the only indigenous Mammals. Six families of Bats are 

 here recognised, one of which (Pteropodidse) contains purely fruit-eating 

 species and is sometimes regarded as forming a Sub-Order in itself, under 

 the name of Megachiroptera, the remaining five being mainly insectivorous 

 and constituting the Sub-Order Microchiroptera. 



PHYLLOSTOMATID.E (Vampire-Bats; 144 Species). 

 Plate 3, Map iv. 



The members of this family are confined to the tropical and subtropical 

 regions of the New World. Only three species are found in North America, 

 and these only in Texas, California and Florida. On the other hand, they 

 ate well represented in the West Indies and Central America. Southwards 

 very few (about three) species extend beyond the tropic ; hence the metropolis 

 of this important group appears to be the great Amazonian forest region. 

 A single fossil Vampire-Bat has been described, from the Eocene of Southern 

 France, and if such a species is correctly placed, this fact indicates a much 

 wider distribution of the family in past ages. 



The Phyllostomatidse. are restricted to forests, and their food is remark- 

 ably varied in its nature, some species subsisting entirely on fruit, others 

 both on fruit and insects. Two species are purely blood-suckers, and these 

 have an enormous geographical range, occurring from Central America to 

 southern Brazil and Chili. 



RHIN0L0PHID.2E (Horseshoe and Leaf-nosed Bats; 124 Species). 

 Plate 3, Map iv. 



In contradistinction to the last family, the Rhinolophidse are exclusively 

 Old World inhabitants, but some of them have a remarkably wide distribution. 

 The Greater Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus fermrn-equinum), for example, is 

 found throughout southern and central Europe, including the southern half 

 of England, and in most of Africa, while in Asia it ranges from the Hima- 

 layas to Japan. The family is represented in all the temperate and tropical 

 parts of the Eastern Hemisphere, with the exception of New Zealand and 

 the greater part of Polynesia. The principal genera are Rhinolophus, the 

 Horseshoe Bats, with 75 species, and Hipposiderus, the Leaf-nosed Bats, 

 with 40. 



The Eocene and Miocene beds of Europe have yielded the remains of 

 about 20 extinct species. 



NOCTILIONLDJE (Free-tailed Bats; 139 Species). 

 Plate 3, Map v. 



The members of this family are widely distributed over the warmer 

 regions of the whole world, but are most abundant in the equatorial zone. 

 Only a single species occurs in Europe (Nyctinomus tseniotis), and this 

 ranges from Portugal to Switzerland, Italy and Greece. The principal 

 genera are Taphozous, with 14 species known as Tomb-Bats, widely dif- 

 fused over the Ethiopian, Oriental and Australian regions ; Atolossus 

 (Mastiff-Bats), with 25 species, all American, and ranging from Southern 

 California to the Argentine Republic; and Nyctinomus, with 51 species, 

 which are scattered over the whole area covered by the family. The New 

 Zealand representative known as Mystacops tuberculata is one of the two 

 species of Bat inhabiting that country. 



NYCTERIDJE (False Vampire-Bats; 16 Species). 

 Plate 3, Map v. 



The Nycteridse. are met with only in the warmer regions of the Eastern 

 Hemisphere and are especially characteristic of the Ethiopian region. Ten 

 species occur in Africa, three of which are wide-ranging, but only one cross- 

 ing the Tropic of Cancer to occur in Egypt. One is Indian, another Aus- 

 tralian, while the remaining four range from Siam through the Malay 

 Archipelago as far as Timor. 



The False Vampires, like a few of the true ones, are sometimes addicted 

 to blood-sucking. No fossil forms are known. 



VESPERTILI0NID2E (Typical Bats; 299 Species). 

 Plate 3, Map vi. 



In this, the largest family of Bats, are found such well-known British 

 forms as the Long-eared and Daubenton's Bats, the Pipistrelle, Noctule, and 

 Serotine. - The species are in general so wide-ranging that it would not serve 

 any useful purpose to give statistics. The family is truly cosmopolitan, no 

 sub-region of the whole world being entirely without representatives. Their 

 range seems only to be regulated by the exigencies of food-supply, for in the 

 New World they occur from Hudson's Bay to the extreme point of South 

 America, and in the Old World from the Arctic circle to Cape Colony and 

 New Zealand. 



Several fossil species of this family are known, most of which are from 

 the Eocene and Miocene of France, and others from the Miocene of Germany 

 and the Eocene and Miocene of North America. 



PTEE0P0DID.2E (Flying Foxes or Fruit-Bats; 136 Species). 

 Plate 3, Map vi. 



The Fruit-Bats are limited in their distribution to the tropical and sub- 

 tropical regions of the Old World, only five species being found in the Palse- 

 arctic region (in Egypt, Syria and Arabia). In Australia 36 species are met 

 with, in the Oriental region 41, and in the Ethiopian 35. The distribution 

 of the typical genus Pteropus is particularly interesting. Of the 61 known 

 species five occur in Madagascar and the adjacent islands, the rest beino- 

 essentially Oriental and Australian forms. Moreover, one or two of these 

 Mascarene representatives are only distinguished by very critical characters 

 from the common Indian species. This genus is totally absent from the 

 African continent, although representatives are found in the Comoro Islands, 

 only a couple of hundred miles distant, and even in the island of Pemba, 

 only 37| miles from the mainland. The evidence provided by this peculiar 

 distribution is used, along with that of other groups of animals, as a basis 

 for the theory that there was formerly a land-connection between India and 

 the islands of the Malagasy sub-region. 



To this family belong the three very remarkable species of Tube-nosed 

 Bats (Gelasinus) found in North Australia, Celebes, New Guinea and 

 the neighbouring islands. 



The Fruit-Bats are so distinct in structure and habits from all other 

 Chiroptera that they have been placed in a separate Sub-Order bearing the 

 name of Megachiroptera, or Large Bats. They are purely fruit-eating 

 creatures and are much the largest of the Bat tribe, hence the name 

 "Flying Foxes." 



OEDER INSECTIVORA (Insectivores ; 406 Species). 



The members of this Order are comparatively small animals — the 

 largest not exceeding our common Rabbit in size — and in a general sense 

 widely distributed. Representatives are found in all the temperate and 

 tropical parts of the world, with the exception of Australia, New Zealand 

 and the Papuan region. In South America, however, only three species 

 occur, which belong to a typically North American genus of Shrews 

 (Blarina), and these only inhabit that portion of South America which 

 lies north of the Equator. In the West Indies, in Cuba and Hayti, only 

 two species of Insectivores are found, which belong to the peculiar family 

 Solenodontidse, whose nearest living allies are to be found far away in 

 Madagascar as another peculiar family, the Tenrecs or Centetidse. 



TALPIDJE (Moles, Mole-Shrews and Besmans; 31 Species). 

 Plate 4, Map i. 



The members of this family are entirely confined to the Northern 

 Hemisphere, where they are specially characteristic of the temperate 

 regions. 12 being New World species and 19 being widely distributed 

 over Europe and Asia. Only five species inhabit the Oriental region, 

 all the other Old World representatives being essentially Palaearctic in 

 their distribution. Of the European members of this family the Desmans 

 (Myogale) are most interesting from a distributional point of view. Only 

 two species now exist, one of which is confined to the streams of the 

 Pyrenean region and Portugal, while the other is peculiar to the rivers 

 and lakes of south-east Russia and Turkestan. They are both aquatic, and 

 are characterised by not having their fore-limbs modified for digging- 

 purposes, as in the true Moles. In former times they were more widely dis- 

 tributed in Europe, where their fossil forms are found in the Middle 

 and Lower Miocene. The Russian species is represented by remains 

 found in the forest-bed on the east coast of England. 



While the true Moles (Talpa) and the Mole-Shrews (Urotrichus) are 

 remarkable for their fossorial habits, the single species forming the genus 

 Uropsilus, a creature confined to Tibet and Western China, is cursorial. 

 The Web-footed Moles (Scalops), the Hairy-tailed Moles (Scapanus) and 

 the Star-nosed Mole (Condylura) are confined to North America. The 

 Web-footed Moles are strictly fossorial in their habits and are not swimming 

 animals, as the peculiar structure of their hind feet was formerly thought 

 to imply. 



Several fossil species of Moles are known, from the Tertiary beds of 

 Europe and North America. 



CHRYSOCHLORID^: (Golden or Cape Moles; 16 Species). 

 Plate 4, Map i. 



The Golden Moles, so called from the fact that their fur glistens with 

 various metallic tints, are entirely restricted to Africa south of the 

 Equator. They feed mainly upon earth-worms, and live in tunnels which 

 are bored so near the surface of the ground that the earth is raised, 

 enabling the course of the tunnel to be easily traced. 



CENTETIBJE (Tenrecs; 18 Species). Plate 4, Map ii. 



The Centetidse are curious hedgehog-like animals, entirely confined to 

 Madagascar and the Comoro Islands, but also introduced into Bourbon and 

 Mauritius. The best-known species (Centetes ecaudatus) is a strictly 

 nocturnal animal, found principally in the mountains, living upon worms 

 and insects, and hibernating in the cool season. It is, moreover, the 

 largest representative of the order Insectivoea, attaining as it does a 

 length of some sixteen inches. 



SOLENOBONTHLE (Solenodons; 2 Species). Plate 4, Map ii. 



The two species of this family are confined to the islands of Hayti 

 and Cuba respectively. It is curious that they should be the nearest 

 relatives of the previous family, and yet be so far removed from them 

 geographically. 



