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Show 461 ON BATS FROM THE GOTTINGEN MUSEUM. [June 15, The presence of a single specimen in a collection labelled " Popayan is, of course, not sufficient grounds to extend the distribution of this species to the Neotropical Region, the Chiroptera of which (with one exception only, Vesperugo serotinus, as I have shown *) are quite distinct from those of any of the zoological regions of the eastern hemisphere. There are, however, in the same collection several other specimens of species, evidently Neotropical, which are labelled "Popayan" (to be referred to hereafter), and with which this specimen agrees precisely in the state of preservation. It is also noteworthy that V. maurus has been found in Europe at very high elevations only along the Alps; and in this respect the South-American habitat given agrees very well, for Popayan is situated in an elevated plain in the Andes, 6000 feet high. If, then, specimens of this species have really come from such very distinct and distant zoological regions, and exhibit so few differences, it becomes evident that we must consider the Oriental representative of this species, described under the names Vesperugo mordax, Ptrs., and V. austenianus, Dobson, as a distinct species, which, although agreeing remarkably in general structure, and even in the colour of the fur, with V. maurus, differs in its conspicuously greater size (forearm 1"*6), in the very shallow emar-gination in the upper half of the outer margin of the ear-conch, in the considerably less degree in which the extremity of the tail projects from the interfemoral membrane, and in the much greater development of the first upper premolar, which, although the second premolar is also close to the canine, may be seen without difficulty from without. VESPERTILIO NIGRICANS, Wied. Two specimens referable to this species, one from Cordova, Argentine Republic, the other from Popayan, U.S. of Columbia. The latter, an adult male, has the forearm 1*5 inches long, and the digits proportionally longer, but in other respects quite agrees with specimens from other localities in which the forearm rarely exceeds 1*35 inch. Can it be that individuals of this and of other species inhabiting very elevated regions have larger wings to compensate for the very rarefied condition of the atmosphere ? SCHIZOSTOMA MEGALOTE, Gray. Popayan. LONCHOGLOSSA WIEDI, Ptrs. Popayan. The following are the measurements of an apparently adult male specimen preserved in alcohol (the zygomatic arches are cartilaginous):- Length, head and body ,, head 55 tail 55 ear inches. 2*5 1*1 0*15 0*6 1 Catal. Chiropt, Brit. Mus. p. 157. |