648 



REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



cinnati. Very few moles have been collected in Indiana and the 

 species might be easily overlooked as its appearance does not differ 

 in any striking way from that of the common mole. 



The habits of this species are much like those of the other moles. 

 It is said to burrow deeper than the common mole but, like it, 

 prefers the higher ground and is not partial to swamps as is the 

 star-nosed species. 



Genus Nycticeius Rafinesque. 

 Nycticieus Rafinesque, Journ. de Physique, Vol. 88, p. 417, 1819. 

 Dental formula ~1, ^J; C, J-eJ; Pm, .^J; M, = 30. 

 Generic characters. — Size, rather small; ears, small and nar- 

 rowly rounded at the tip ; tragus, short, broad and blunt and much 



Fig. 36. — Skull of Nycticeius humeralis : a, lateral view ; b, dorsal view. After 

 Miller, N. Am. Fauna No. 13, Bureau of the Biol. Sur., U. S. Dept. of Agri. 



bent forward; membranes and ears very thick and leathery. The 

 skull (fig. 36) is broad and low; in dorsal profile it resembles that 

 of Eptesicus except that it is slightly convex at the front of the 

 braincase ; braincase more rounded than in Eptesicus; the skull of 

 the latter genus also much larger. 



The genus is distributed throughout the Gulf states and as far 

 north as Pennsylvania and Kentucky, being represented b}^ but one 

 species; a subspecies is found in Cuba. The dark color, leathery 

 wings and dental formula distinguish this genus. 



