CATALOGUE OFTHE CHIROPTERA IN THE COLLECTION OFTHE BRITISH MUSEUM. BY GEORGE EDWARD DOBSON, M.A., M.B. LONDON: PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES. 1878.
PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND VYRANCIS, pha ee 4 REDLIONCOURT,FLEETSTREET.
PREFACE Turis Volume contains a complete account of all the species of Bats known at present, 400 in number, of which 85 are desiderata in the British Museum. In the year 1843, when the ‘ List of Mammalia in the Collection of the British Museum’ was published by order of the Trustees, 136 species represented by 418 specimens were contained in the Museum; 2666 specimens are enumerated in this Catalogue, an increase chiefly due to the indefatigable zeal of the former Keeper of the Department, the late Dr. J. E. Gray, who at various times devoted himself to a systematic study of some of the families.
The present Catalogue probably contains only a fraction of existing species: but it is hoped that it will be a stimulus to collectors and students to pay more attention to this difficult and obscure group of animals than has been the case hitherto. The Trustees have fortunately secured for the preparation of this Work the services of Mr. George Edward Dobson, M.A., who for many years has made this branch his special study. ALBERT GUNTHER, Keeper of the Department of Zoology.
British Museum, May 20th, 1878.
INTRODUCTION.
Tue total number of species described in the following pages is 400. The descriptions, with very few exceptions, are original, and have been taken directly from the types or from specimens which had been compared with the types. During the past four years the chief zoological museums on the continent of Europe were visited from time to time by me, and the types of the species described by Geoffroy, Temminck, Gervais, Peters, and Alph. Milne-Edwards examined and compared; while previously I had the rare advantage of seeing recent specimens of many species, and of studying their habits, when travelling in South America and during a residence of neatly four years in the East Indies, In the latter country the large collection of the Indian Museum at Calcutta, so inaccessible by reason of distance to most European zoologists, was examined, and full descriptions of the species were subsequently published in my ‘Monograph of the Asiatic Chiroptera.’
As this is the first attempt to present in monographic form (not being a compilation) a natural history of any of the Orders of Mammalia, it has been my object throughout, not only to render the discrimination of the different species as easy as possible to those not possessing any special knowledge of the subject, but also, by full descriptions of the species, and by notes on their comparative anatomy, habits, and relative position in the natural series, to make this work as complete a systematic treatise on the Chiroptera as the present state of our knowledge and the space at my disposal would admit of.
The Classification adopted is the same as that propounded by me in a paper published in 1875 in the ‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History,’ and subsequently again set forth in the preface to my ‘Monograph of the Asiatic Chiroptera,’ where the grounds on which it is based are fully described and the relative affinities b
yl INTRODUCTION.
of the genera discussed. In the Systematic Index the arrangement of the Families, Genera, and Species according to this method of classification may be seen; and notes on the natural position of each genus and species will be found in most cases attached to the definitions and descriptions throughout the work.
Instead, therefore, of reopening this subject, [think it preferable to occupy the space remaining at my disposal with an account of the Comparative Anatomy and Geographical Distribution of the species. In treating of the Comparative Anatomy I shall limit my remarks especially to those parts of the body which present the greatest variability in form, as a knowledge of the chief structural modifications, both external and internal, is all-important in systematically arranging the species.
Of all the orders of Mammalia none are so well defined as the Chiroptera: the presence of true wings at once distinguishes them ; and this peculiarity is accompanied by other modifications of bodily structure having relation to aerial locomotion. Thus, in direct contrast to all other mammals (in which locomotion is chiefly effected by action from behind, and the hind limbs greatly preponderate in size over the fore), in the Chiroptera the fore limbs, being the only agents in propelling the body forward during flight, immensely exceed the short and weak hinder extremities; the thorax giving origin to the great muscles which sustain flight, and containing the proportionately very large lungs and heart, is remarkably capacious, and the ribs are flattened and close together; the shoulder-girdle also is greatly developed in comparison with the weak pelvic bones. Other structural modifications secondary to these are observable in the form of the bony skeleton, in the integumentary system, in the alimentary canal, and in other parts of the body, which I now proceed to describe under their several heads.
Ossrous System.
The bones entering into the formation of the skeleton in Chiroptera are characterised by their slenderness, and by the great size of the medullary canals in those forming the extremities. The vertebral column is short, and the vertebre differ very slightly in number and form throughout the species. The general number of the thoracico-lumbar vertebra is 17, whereof 12 are thoracic and 5 Tumbar. Occasionally species of the same family differ more from each other in the number of vertebre than species of very distinct
INTRODUCTION. vil families; thus Phyllostoma hastatum has 13 thoracic vertebra, while Artibeus perspicillatus has 12. The cervical vertebra are very broad, but short from before backwards. With the exception of the axis none of the cervical or thoracic vertebree develop spinous processes, a characteristic feature in the osteology of the Order. From the first thoracic to the last lumbar vertebra the spinal column forms a single curve backwards, which is most pronounced in the lumbar region. The bodies of the vertebre are very slightly movable upon each other, and in many old individuals appear to become partially anchylosed together. The caudal vertebre are simple cylindrical bones without processes, and their number and length is extremely variable even in closely allied species; the anterior vertebre are generally united to the tuberosities of the ischia. In all species of Megachiroptera (except in the very aberrant form Notopteris macdonaldit) the tail is very short or absent; in Pteropus, in some species of Epomophorus, and in Melonycteris there are no caudal vertebree extending beyond the tuber ischii. In the Microchiroptera the tail reaches its greatest development in the Vespertilionine alliance *, in some genera of Vespertilionide (as in Kerivoula, Natalus, and Miniopterus) exceeding the length of the head and body, but the vertebrae rarely exceed 9 in number; in Nycteride the caudal vertebre are very long in the genus Mycteris, very short and concealed in the base of the interfemoral membrane in Megaderma. In the Emballonurine alliance the tail is alone well developed in the Molossi, in Rhinopoma, and in some of the insectivorous species of Phyllostomide ; in most of the genera of Glossophage, in all the frugivorous Stenodermata, and in the sanguivorous Desmodontes it is externally invisible or altogether absent. This shows that thedevelopment of the tail is correlated to the habits of the different species t. In all Bats the presternum has a prominent keel for the attachment of the anterior portion of the great pectoral muscle; the mesosternum has a slightly prominent keel in most species of Microchiroptera, which reaches its greatest development in the Rhinolophide, especially in the genus TJ'rienops, where it is nearly as deep as that of the presternum{; the xiphisternum is moderately * For definitions of the two alliances into which I have divided the families of Microchiroptera see Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. xvi. p. 347 (1875), or Monogr. Asiat, Chiropt. pp. 7, 8 (1876).
+ For remarks on the development of the interfemoral membrane, see infra, p. xxviii.
¢ See my paper ‘‘On the Osteology of Trienops persicus,” and accompanying plate, in Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. xli. pp. 136-142, pl. vi. fig. 3 (1872). b2
viil INTRODUCTION.
broad behind, terminating in a broad cartilaginous process. In the Megachiroptera the segments of the mesosternum are distinct, in most species of Microchiroptera they are anchylosed together in adult individuals.
The ribs vary from 12 to13 pairs ; in most species they are much flattened and separated by very narrow intervals; in the Rhinolophide they are exceedingly flattened, and in some species occasionally found partially anchylosed together.
Of all parts of the osseous system the skull is most variable in form. This variability evidently depends chiefly on the different kinds of food used by different species, requiring special adaptation in the manducatory apparatus, changes in the form of which leading to very considerable modifications in the form of the skull. We would expect, therefore, to find the skull most variable in the Phyllostomide (for the species of that family probably vary more in the nature of their food than all the other species of Chiroptera) ; and this is certainly the case. In two species of this family, Cheronycteris mexicana and Centurio senex, we find the most extreme modifications of the skull observable in Chiroptera, the length in proportion to the breadth being as 30 to 11 in the former, and as 18 to 12 in the latter species (compare Plates XXVII. & XXVIII). In the truly insectivorous families, the Rhinolophide and Vespertilionide, the skull is least variable; and in some of the genera of these families the difference between the species in this respect is very slight.
The elevation of the brain-case above the face-line varies very considerably in the different species of Vespertilionide, Emballonuride, and Phyllostomide especially. In some genera, as in Furia, Amorphocheilus, and Mormops, the crown of the head appears greatly elevated, in consequence of the peculiar manner in which the facial bones are bent upwards, so that the facial portion of the craniofacial axis is almost at right angles to the basicranial; in Iiniopterus, Natalus,and Thyroptera the brain-case in much vaulted and raised above the face-line, although the cranio-facial axis is almost in the same plane throughout.
Postorbital processes of the frontal are wanting in most of the species of Microchiroptera; they are either very short and obtuse or not developed in Rhinolophide and Phyllostomide. In some species of Vespertilionide (Vesperugo pachypus, e. g.) there are small blunt processes. In most of the species of Nycteride the frontal bones are greatly expanded laterally, forming triangular processes, the base of