THE FAMILIES AND GENERA OF BATS. 
101 
tragi, and the deep frontal grove, margined by leaf-like outgrowth. 
Other diagnostic characters are the absence of the fibula, the well- 
developed palatal branches of the premaxillaries, and the peculiar 
structure of tlie frontal region of the skull. 
Principal subdivisions. — The family Nycteridse contains the single 
genus Nycteris. -pit. _ 
Genus NYCTERIS Geoffroy. ~ °~ lCL 
\y Yiydfe.r<s joA/a.vx.eei*# (Jeo-CPray 
1795. Nycteris Geoffroy and Cuvier, Magasin Encyclopedique, l e annee, y 
II, p. .186 ( nomen nudum).- 
1803. Nycteris Geoffroy, Cat. Mamm. Mus. National Hist. Nat., p. 64. 
1803. Nicteris Desmarest, Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., XV, p. 501. 
1813. Nycterus G. Fischer, Zoognosia, 3d ed., I, p. 18. 
1838. Petalia Gray, Mag. Zool. and Bot., II, p. 494. ( javanica .) 
1866. Nycterops Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 83. ( pilosa=liispida .) 
1866. Pelatia Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 83. ( javamica .) 
1878. Nycteris Dobson, Catal. Chiropt. Brit. Mus., p. 161. 
Type-species. — Vespertilio hispidus Schreber. 
Geographic distribution. — Africa, except northwestern portion ; 
also the Malay Peninsula, Java, and Timor. 
Number of forms. — About a dozen forms of Nycteris are known, 
all but one of them African. 
Characters. — The essential characters of the genus are the same as 
those of the family. In addition may be mentioned : Dental formida, 
-2 3.1. 4567.2-2 1-1 1-1 3-3 oo 
12 3. 1. - 2-4:hm t 'S-3’ c 1- V pm 2-2 ’ m 3 - 3~ 32 ’ 
upper incisors trifid, almost exactly resembling the lower both in 
size and form ; outer lower incisor with crown not quite as large and 
distinctly trifid as in the two others ; other teeth showing no special 
peculiarities, m 1 and m 2 with large postero-internal heel, but no 
hypocone, m 3 with metacone, mesostyle, and three commissures ; pm 4 
very small, almost concealed by pm 3 and m v 
Species examined. — Nycteris cethiopica Dobson, N. capensis Smith, 
N. fuliginosa Peters, N. grandis Peters, N. hispida (Schreber), N. 
javanica Geoffroy, N . luteola Thomas, N. thebiaca Geoffroy. 
Family MEGADERMIDiE. 
1821. Vespertilionidce (part; Race 1, part) Gray, London Medical Reposi- 
tory, XV, p. 299, April 1, 1821. 
1827. Rhinolopliina, Lesson, Man. de Mammalogie, p. 81 (part). 
1831. Vespertiliones ( Vespertilionidce ) (part; Phyllostomina, part) Bona- 
parte, Saggio di una distrib. methodica degli Anim. Vert., p. 15. 
1838. Vespertilionidce (part; Rhinolopliina, part) Bonaparte, Nuovi Annali 
delle Scienze Naturali, Bologna, Anno I, Tomo II, p. 112. 
1838. Vespertilionidce (part; Phyllostomina, part) Gray, Mag. Zool. and 
Bot., II, p. 486. December, 1838. 
1854. [ Rhinolophidce ] “ Rhinolophides ” Gervais, Hist. Nat. des Mammi- 
feres, p. 200 (part). 
1864. Megadermatidce H. Allen, Monogr. Bats N. Amer., p. 1 (part; Macro- 
tus=Otopterus, and Megaderma, are the only genera mentioned). 
