560 



THE AMERICAN NATURALIST 



[Vol. XL 



Galeopithecus is nocturnal in habits, as indeed almost all volant 

 mammals are, resting during the day by clinging head downward 

 from the branch of a tree, in which posture it resembles Pteropus 

 \erj closely. Its soaring powers are very great as one has been 

 seen to cover a space of seventy yards with a descent of not more 

 than thirty-five or forty feet, or less than one in five (Wallace). 



Two species of Galeopithecus are known, one, G. volans, from 

 the ^Nlalay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo, while G. philippinen- 

 sis inhabits the Philippine Islands. 



Chiroptera 



In the bats one sees the culmination of volant adaptation on the 

 part of the Mannnalia and the entire order has reached a state of 

 perfection excelled only by the birds and pterodactyls. Each of 

 the three solely air-breathing classes of vertebrates has, in one 

 line of evolution at least, culminated in perfect adaptation to aerial 

 life. 



The bats while showing the same general plan of structure 

 thr()u<,di()nt, are divisible into two distinct snbonlers in which con- 

 stant di^inu-i.i.hing .-haracrrr. haxr ariM-n, dnr to differences of 

 habit>. Thes.' aiv the M i.Torhiroptera a, id the Meu'aehiroptera 

 thefonnrrhein- in ih.Miiain i,iM. ti\.>i-o,i. ^^hi^■ tiir hitter are fni- 



