THE GREAT HARE-LIPPED BAT. 
317 
The Egyptian RMnopome , which is probably distributed over a considerable portion of the African 
continent, is a small Bat, the length of the head and 
body being only about two inches and a quarter. 
The portion of the tail free from the membrane is about 
the same length as the head and body, and the inter- 
femoral membrane encloses about another half-inch. It 
has a nearly naked face, along the middle of which a 
narrow groove runs back from the base of the little nose- 
leaf to the deep concavity situated in the forehead 
between the eyes ; the wing-membranes are attached to 
the tibia for about two-thirds of the length of the latter, 
and are entirely free from hail’ ; and the small develop- 
ment of the membranes, coupled with the comparatively 
great length of the limb-bones, renders this Bat more 
active in walking than most of his fellows. The fur is 
short, and leaves a good deal of the hinder part of the 
back naked ; and the bare skin thus exposed, as well as 
the base of the wings, is curiously wrinkled, a character 
which this species has in common with certain species of 
Taphozoi and Molossi. Egyptian rhinopome. 
The Egyptian Rhinopome is found commonly in 
Egypt, where it frequents the numerous ruins and old buildings with which that country abounds, and 
is particularly abundant in the dark galleries and chambers of the Pyramids.* 
THE GREAT HARE-LIPPED BAT.+ 
In Seba’s well-known illustrated book on Natural History a peculiar species of Bat is described 
and figured under the name of “ Vespertilio cate similis americanus It may be doubtful whether 
any of our domestic Grimalkins would be much flattered by the likeness thus briefly indicated (see 
figure), but there can be no doubt that the animal in question was a Bat, and as such it duly appears 
in the earlier editions of the “ Systema Naturae ” of Linnams. By a curious misapplication of the very 
sound principle of not being guided exclusively by external characters, the great Swedish naturalist 
was led in the last edition of his work (in which he founded the genus N'octilio) to refer the animal to 
the Rodents, on the ground of the apparent presence of only two incisor's in each jaw. 
A glance at the dentition of a Noctilio will at once show how Linngeus was misled, and at the 
same time that it has all the dental characters of a Bat. In the upper jaw there are four incisor 
teeth, the two middle ones approximated and considerably larger than 
the lateral ones, which are placed quite behind them, leaving a small 
open space between the incisors and the larger canines, behind which 
comes a series of four molars showing the characteristic W-shapcd 
cusps very distinctly. In the lower jaw there are only two small 
notched incisors, followed immediately by the powerful canines, 
behind which is a series of five molars, the first very small, the 
second larger, but simple and pyramidal, and the remainder with 
distinct cusps and ridges. 
The ears in the Bats of this genus are rather large, and furnished 
with a small tragus, the outer margin of which is notched. The 
outer margin of the ear forms a rounded lobe upon the cheek, and 
is then continued to the angle of the mouth. The upper lip is widely cleft, forming a broad margined 
fissure running up to the nostrils, which are surrounded by borders raised to such an extent as to 
HEAD OF GREAT HARE-LIPPED BAT. 
* Rhinopoma Lepsianum (Peters), is another African species, 
f Noctilio leporinus. 
It inhabits the banks of the Blue Nile. 
41 
