﻿NOMENCLATURE. 



19 



It therefore appears that the VespertiUo murimis of Linn?eus is a bat 

 with ears shorter thau the head, and with the dental formula : 

 . 2-21 3_3 

 ^'3-3' ^'n'^"^'2~2'^"'3---3 = ^^- 



The only common Scandinavian bats which combine these characters 

 are the two usually known as Vesper ugo nilssoiii and Yesperugo discolor. 

 To these strictly congeneric European species and their exotic repre- 

 sentatives the generic name Yespertilio must be applied, regardless of 

 its long misuse for a different genus. 



The current misidentification of Linn.Tus's Yespertilio murimis has 

 been recognized by at least tliree writers on European bats, Mlsson, 

 Blasius, and Lilljeborg. Mlsson ^ discusses the matter at considerable 

 length and arrives at the conclusion that the name murinus must be 

 substituted for discolor, Avhile the bat commonly known as murinus 

 must take the specific name myotis Bechstein. As this author unites 

 the genera ^ Yesperugo ' and ' Yespe^^tilio,^ he has nothing to say in regard 

 to the validity of the generic names used by Keyserliiig and Blasius. 



Blasius '^ regarded i^ilsson's identification of Yespertilio muri)ius 

 doubtful, though he admitted that the animal described by Liinniius 

 under that name could not have been the one generally called Yesper- 

 tilio murinus by European authors at large. He therefore reasoned 

 that Linuicus's name might be disregarded as undeterminable and in 

 no way invalidating Sclireber's later api^lication. 



Lilljeborg alone questioned the tenability of the generic name Yesper- 

 tilio for the thirty- eight toothed bats of Europe.'* He says: 



* * As regards iiiodifyini;' the Linu;ean ^eueric name VespertiUo, it may be 

 urged that LiiiuaMis did not include in it any of tlic sjiecies referred to it by Keyser- 

 liug and Blasius. Further, it would have been more correct to apply the name 

 VespertUio to the preceding genus \J Vcspenigo'^, since one of the species included in 

 the genus by Liun;cus ( l^espertilio murinits) agrees, in all important characters at 

 least, with the genus mentioned, as shown above. As, liowever, the motlitication of 

 the name introduced by Keyserling and Blasius lias become time-sanctioned, it will 

 be retained, although we consider the objections against it reasonable. ^ 



Vesperugo Keyserling and Blasius, 1839 ( Wiegmann's Archiv f. IS^atur- 

 gesch., 5ter Jabrgang, Bd. I, p. 312), was proposed as a genus to contain 

 the following species up to that time commonly associated with Yesper- 



^In Linnicus's statement the figures 4 and 6 are evidently transposed. 



^Slvandinavisk Fauna, I, Diiggdjuren, 2ded., 1847, pp. 17-20. 



^^Naturgesch. d. Siiugethiero Deutschlands, pp. 71, 81, 1857. 



•*Sverige8 ocli Norges Ryggradsdjur, I, Diiggdjuren, p. 114, footnote, 1874. 



^* * * I afseende pa tilliimpningen hiir af det Linneanska genus-namnet 

 VespertiUo, kan deremot iuviiudas, att Linne icke uti detta genus upptagit en enda af 

 de arter, som Keyserling & Blasius derunder beskrifvit, och att det hade varit 

 rattare, att anviinda detta namn fcir foregaende sliigte I' Vesperugo''], emedan en 

 af de af Linne uti si. Vespertilio upptagna arterna — VespertiUo murinus Lin. — 

 atminstone till bufvudsaklig del, enligt hvad ofvan blifvit anfordt tillhor namde 

 slagte. Da emellertid den af Keyserling & Blasius inforda tillampningen af 

 namnet vunnitbiifd, vilja vi bibehalla den, ehuru vianse inviindningen vara befogad. 



