102 BULLETIN 51, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 
1865. Megadermata Peters, Monatsber. lc. preuss. Akad. Wissensch., Berlin, 
p. 256 (part). 
1866. Rhinolophidce (part; Megadermina ) Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc., London, 
p. 83. 
1872. Megadermidce Gill, Arrangement of tlie Families of Mammals, p. 17 
(part). 
1875. Nycteridce (part; Megadermince) Dobson, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 
4th ser., XVI, p. 348. 
1878. Nycteridce (part \ Megadermince) Dobson, Catal. Chiropt. Brit. Mus., 
p. 154. 
1886. Megadermidce Gill, Standard Natural History, V, p. 164 (part). 
1891. Nycteridce Flower and Lydekker, Mammals living and extinct, p. 658 
(part). 
1892. Rhinolophidce (part; Megadermatini, part, Megadermata) Winge, 
Jordfundne og nulevende Flagermus (Chiroptera) fra Lagoa Santa, 
Minas Geraes, Brasilien, p. 24. 
1907. Megadermatidce Andersen and Wroughton, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 7tli 
series, XIX, p. 129, February, 1907. 
Geographic distribution. — Tropical Africa, southern Asia, the 
Malay region to the Philippine Islands, Australia. 
Characters. — Humerus and shoulder joint as in the Nycteridse; 
second finger with one phalanx; third with two; shoulder girdle 
abnormal in the great widening of anterior portion of presternum 
(greatest width nearly four times length) and in the fusion of this 
widened portion, together with the first rib, first dorsal, and seventh 
cervical vertebrae, into a solid ring of bone; keel of sternum only 
moderately developed; fibula threadlike, less than half as long as 
tibia ; pelvis normal, the ischia free posteriorly ; skull with post orbital 
processes short or practically absent, usually obscured by wide supra- 
orbital ridges; premaxillaries absent; upper canines projecting no- 
ticeably forward, the shaft with a large secondary cusp ; tragus pres- 
ent, bifid; muzzle with conspicuous leaflike cutaneous outgrowths. 
History. — The history of this family is the same as that of the 
Nycteridse. 
Remarks. — Although undoubtedly a near ally of the Nycteridse, 
this group appears to be well characterized as a family. It closely 
resembles the Nycteridse in the form of the humerus and structure 
of the shoulder joint, and usually though not invariably in the form 
of the skull. It differs from the related family in the presence of 
the fibula, the bifid tragus, long, erect noseleaf, rudimentary carti- 
laginous condition of the premaxillaries and consequent absence of 
the upper incisors, projection forward and bicuspidate structure of 
the upper canines, fused presternum and first sternal rib, and pres- 
ence of well-developed phalanx in second finger. Externally the 
members of the group may be recognized by their very short tails, 
large ears with bifid tragi, and long, erect noseleaves. 
Principal subdivisions. — Five genera are currently recognized. 
