FRUIT-BATS . 
253 
the second or index finger, as shown in our figure of the skeleton ; but the metacarpal 
bones, or those between the wrist and the fingers, must not be confounded with the 
proper bones of the latter. Moreover, the terminal joint of the second finger is 
generally provided with a claw; whereas in other bats the thumb alone is thus 
furnished. Then, again, a fruit-bat may always be distinguished by its ears, of 
which the sides of the projecting portion, or conch, are united at the base so as to 
form a complete ring; the ears, as we have already incidentally mentioned, being 
invariably of small size, and unprovided with an inner tragus. The last distinctive 
feature of the group that it will be necessary to mention here is that the tail, if 
present at all, is always short, and is situated beneath the membrane between the 
hind legs, with which membrane it may have no connection. There are certain 
other characteristics of the group which require a considerable amount of anatomical 
knowledge for their due appreciation, and which we accordingly pass over. 
Many considerations lead to the conclusion that the fruit-bats are a specialised 
group, which have been derived by adaptation from ordinary insectivorous bats; 
and this view has been remarkably confirmed by the comparatively recent discovery 
of a peculiar species, which, while agreeing with the rest in the general structure 
of its molar teeth, differs in that these teeth retain cusps representing those of the 
insect-eating group. 
The Common Fruit-Bats, or Fox-Bats. 
Genus Fteropus. 
The best known of the group are the so-called fox-bats, or flying-foxes, taking 
their name from their long fox-like faces, of which a group is represented in 
the coloured plate, and a single example in the woodcut on the next page. These 
bats, constituting the genus Pteropus of naturalists, are characterised by their large 
size, the presence of thirty-four teeth (among which there are two pairs of incisors 
and three premolars in each jaw), the total absence of a tail, the long and fox-like 
muzzle, and the thick coat of woolly fur with which the neck is covered. 
Fox-bats are found in India, Ceylon, Burma, the Malay Archipelago, the 
Seychelles, Madagascar, the Comoro Islands, the 
south of Japan, and most of the islands of the 
Pacific (the Sandwich and some other groups 
excepted), as well as in Papua and Australia. 
Curiously enough, they are quite unknown in 
Africa, although common in the Comoro Islands, 
two hundred miles distant. Probably the best 
known of all the species is the Indian fox-bat 
{Pteropus meclius), characterised by its naked 
and sharply-pointed ears. All who have resided 
in India are familiar with the long strings of 
fox-bats which may be seen, as the shades of 
evening approach, wending their way from their sleeping-places to the scene of 
their nocturnal depredations. Writing of these bats, the late Dr. Jerdon says that 
head of Wallace’s fox-bat. 
(From Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc.) 
