﻿NOMENCLATURE. 



15 



name based ou the bats of the American genus commonly but wrongly 

 called Atalaplia, It was introduced as follows: The bats, the Vesper- 

 tiliones of Geoffroy, might for convenience be divided into three genera, 

 the true bats, VespertiUo * * *^ the Paehyotus * * *^ and the 

 hairy tailed species of America (Zfl6'/«r?ts)." As the only hairy-tailed 

 American bats known in 1838 were members of the modern genus 

 Lasiurus, this brief statement may be taken as a definite indication of 

 the author's meaning. In 1838 Gray referred the species pruinosus 

 [=cinereus), Z^TS^^^rws(=^>ore«^i6•),andZ>/o6^§e^7^7/e?*(=Z>or^?r^/is,^^f/^Dobson) 

 to the group, which he then regarded as a subgenus or section of 

 ScotopUlus (Mag. Zool. & Bot., II, p. 4!)8, Edinburgh, 1838). 



Marsipolsemus Peters, 1872 (Monatsber. k. Preuss Akad. Wiss., Berlin, 

 p. 260), was proposed in a subgeneric sense for a Mexican bat, Vesperus 

 alhigularis Peters, about the size of VespertiUo fuscus^ with the denti- 

 tion of that species, but with the outer border of the ear continuous 

 with a fold of skin which extends back from the corner of the mouth, 

 under and behind which a distinct pocket is formed. I have never 

 seen this bat, and am unable to say what value is to be placed on the 

 characters described. (See p. 101.) 



Meteorus Kolenati, 1856 (Allgem. Deutsch. Is^aturhist. Zeitg., Dresden, 

 Neue Folge, II, pp. 131, 167-100), is a synonym of VespertiUo Linniieus. 

 It was i)roposed as a subgenus of ' Vesper us^ to include the species 

 nilssoni, discolor, sarii, leucippe^ and aristippe. 



Myotis Kaup, 1829 (Skizzirte Entw. Gesch. u. Katiirl. Syst. der Euroi). 

 Thierw., Ister Theil, p. 106), is the first name based on the large, long- 

 eared, thirty eight-toothed bat wrongly called VespertiUo murinus by 

 Schreber.^ It is therefore the tenable name for the genus of which this 

 animal is the type. xVs the VespertiUo mtirinus of Schreber is not the 

 VespertiUo murimis of Linnjieus, another specific name must be applied 

 to the former. The name ?/?//of/s Bechstein- is available for this pur- 

 pose. Hence the VespertiUo murinus of Schreber and of European 

 writers in general must stand as Mi/otis myotis (Bechstein). 



Namiugo Kolenati, 1856 (Allgem. Deutsch. Naturhist. Zeitg., Dresden, 

 Neue Folge, II, pp. 131, 169-172), is a synonym of PipistreU us Kaup, 

 1829. It was proposed as a subgenus of ^ Vesper ugo"^ to include the 

 European s\)ecies jripistreUus, I'uhUi, and nattereri. 



Noctula Bonaparte, 1837 (Iconografia Fauna Italica, I, fasc. XXI, 

 under VespertiUo alcythoe)^ based on VespertiUo serotinus Schreber is a 

 synonym of VespertiUo Linnjieus. 



Nycticeius Kafinesque, 1819 (Journal de Physique, de Chimie, d'His- 

 toire Naturelle et des Arts, LXXXVIII, p. 417), contained two species, 



'Kaup says: Fledermiinso von rieseumassiger Grosse, mit nacktem Gesicht, 

 getrennteu, kopfslangeii Ohren, langen lanzettformigen Ohrendeckeln, und 38 

 ZiihBen." 



"^VespertiUo myotis Beclisteiu, Gemeinniitz. Naturgesch. Deutsclilands, Bd. I, p. 

 1145, 1791 ifide Blasius). 



