288 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
HEAD OF T I IK LYUJ3 DAT. 
FAMILY III . — NY CTE RI D JE . 
The development of peculiar nasal appendages for which the Rhinolophidos are remarkable is still 
more striking in some species of another family, the members of which were formerly included in the 
precHiliug. In these Bats (the Mycterkke of Mr. Dobson) the ears are enormously developed, mem- 
branous, and united either by a portion of their inner margins, or by 
a transverse band of membrane, the tragus or earlet- is greatly de- 
veloped, and the middle finger contains two phalanges. 5 " 
The species inhabit the warmer parts of the Old World. 
THE LYRE BAT.f 
The extraordinary development of the ears and of the mem- 
branous appendages of the nose is greatest in the species of this 
genus, which has in consequence been denominated Megaderma, two 
of wliich inhabit tropical Asia, whilst two occur only in the warmer 
•parts of Africa. 
Of all the species the most abundant and best known is the 
Lyre Bat ( Megaderma lyra , see figure), which is found with but 
little variation in its characters throughout continental India, from 
Cashmere to Cape Comorin, and also in the adjacent island of Ceylon. 
This extraordinary little creature, which measures only about three and a half inches in length, and is 
of a slaty blue colour, paler beneath, has its ears considerably longer than its head, and united for 
nearly half the length of their inner margins, and the earlets (tragi) very long, divided at the end into 
two parts, one of which, the posterior, is pointed, and a good deal longer than the other, which is 
rounded off at the end. The ears are, in fact, about half the length of the head and body. The nose- 
leaf starts from a nearly circular base, lying horizontally upon the muzzle, and rises like a sort of strap 
more than half an inch long, the bunt surface of which has a projecting ridge running up its middle, 
and corresponding to a deep groove on the posterior surface. The 
nostrils are situated in the concavity of the basal disc from which 
the nose-leaf springs. In this and the other species of Megaderma 
there are no incisor teetli in the upper jaw (see figure), the inter- 
maxillary bone itself, which ought to bear these teeth, being repre- 
sented only by a cartilaginous piece, which fills up the space between 
the canines ; and the tail is exceedingly short, and contained in the 
basal part of the interfen loral membrane, which is large, and has its 
Linder margin concave, and not pointed as in most Bats. 
The great size of the ears and nasal appendages in these Bats 
has led Europeans in India to give them the name of Vampires, as 
they agree in these particulars with the true Vampire Bats of South 
America, and the name is certainly better applied to them than to 
the frugivorous Pteropidae, which are sometimes called Vampires even by zoologists. It is, however, 
a singular fact that in both these groups the extraordinary developments of membrane about the head 
should be proved to co-exist with more bloodthirsty habits than are common to the Bats generally 
It does not indeed appear to be absolutely made out that Megaderma lyra condescends to partake of 
that insect diet which contents so many of its fellows. As Air. Dobson remarks, “The very 
peculiarly-shaped, elongated, narrow muzzle and large trenchant canines, with acutely-pointed basal 
cusps (see figure) of this and of the other species of Megaderma , the projecting mandible and 
divided lower lip, so different from all Insectivorous Bats, naturally lead us to suspect corresponding 
* This character is of special importance here, as serving to distinguish the Megaderms from the species of another family 
of Leaf -nosed Bats belonging to the second principal group of Microchiroptera. 
f Megaderma lyra. 
TEETH OF THE LYltE BAT. 
( Three times Natural Size.) 
