GEOFFROY\ S NYCTOPEILE. 
297 
the Meyaderms or tlie Rh inoloph idee. But apart trom the presence of the nose-leaf, which is of very 
simple structure, the characters of these Bats are in such close agreement with those of th§ V esper- 
tilionidie, that there seems to be no doubt that this is their true position. They appear to be most 
nearly related to Rlecotus, 
The nasal appendages are very simple, consisting of a transverse front piece placed immediately 
above the nostrils, and having its upper margin straight, and a second portion, also transverse-, placed 
at a greater distance from the first than the latter from the nostrils, and thickly clothed with short 
bristly hairs. The ears are large, ovoid, united at their bases by a membrane which runs across 
the top of the head, and furnished with a short broad tragus. The dentition differs from that of 
the allied genera. There are two separated incisors and only one pre-molar on each side in the 
GEOFFROi’ts X YCTOPIIIXE. ( Fron i Gould’s “ Mammals of Australia.”) 
upper jaw, and the lower jaw has only two pre-molars on each side. Thus the dental formula is— 
incisors, kd, canines, pre-molars, molars, jgj. 
Geoffroy’s Nyctophile, which appears to be one ot the commonest species, as also the one first 
desciibed, is a small Bat, the head and body measuring rather more than two inches in length, 
and the tail more than one inch. The heel-spurs are half an inch long. The body is covered with 
long, thick, and soft fur, which is usually brown above and brownish-grey beneath, the hairs on 
both surfaces being black at the base, tipped above with olive-brown, and on the under surface with 
brownish-white. The membranes are dark brown. The species is an inhabitant of Western 
Australia, where it is abundant. These Bats are sometimes found in great numbers in the hollow 
spouts of the gum-trees, from which they emerge in the evening to Hit about the shrubs and smaller 
trees in search of insects. 
Three other species of this genus are known, one of which, although originally described as from 
Timor, and named N. timoriensis , is only known to occur in Western Australia; another is from New 
South Wales, and the third from Van Diemen’s Land. 
