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Show 478 MR. O. THOMAS ON THE MAMMALS [Dec. 4, breadth 9*8; intertemporal constriction, breadth 2'0; front of upper canine to back of m.d 6-8. This Bat is evidently more nearly allied to Hipposiderus than to either Tricenops, Rhinonycteris, or Ccelops, although the last-named is the only one of the subfamily that agrees with it in the rudimentary state of the tail. To no particular member or group of Hipposiderus, however, does it show any special affinity, since its agreement with Asellia in the emarginate state of the posterior nose-leaf is probably no evidence of genetic relationship, the differences between it and that subgenus in the essential structure of the nose-leaf and in the reduction of the tail being quite as marked as in the case of the other members of the genus Hipposiderus. The presence of a peculiar insectivorous Bat in Guadalcanar is a most interesting and unexpected fact, since, as a general rule, oceanic islands are characterized by the large proportion and great specialty of their frugivorous as compared with their insectivorous Bats, a general rule otherwise well exemplified in the Solomon Islands, as shown below in the table, p. 483. 12. HIPPOSIDERUS TRICUSPIDATUS, Temm. a, b. 8 2- Aola. [10.] Forearms 37 and 40 millim. respectively. 13. HIPPOSIDERUS DIADEMA, Geoffr. a, b. 2 • Aola. c. 8 • Rubiana. These specimens differ in size to a remarkable extent, the forearm in both a and b being 79 millim. long, while in c it is no less than 96. Other specimens in the Museum collection, however, connect these two extremes, and show that the difference in size cannot be looked upon as a specific character. Thus a Cinghalese female has a forearm 94 millim. long; several specimens have them about 86 or 88 ; a male from the Philippines one 82 long, while a female from the same locality has one only 76, this latter being the least observed in adult animals. 14. HIPPOSIDERUS CERVINUS, Gould. 2 . Aola. [5.] Forearm 44 millim. 15. VESPERUGO ABRAMUS, Temm. a. $. Aola. [11.] Forearm 33 millim. 16. MINIOPTERUS SCHREIBERSI, Kuhl. a, b. 8 2- Aola. These specimens belong to one of the small races of this widely-spread species, their forearms measuring only between 40 and 41 millim., exactly as in the forms called "J/, schreibersi, var. pusillus," and " M. australis " by Dobson l. Their characters are on the whole 1 Cat. Chir. B. M. p. 351 (1878). |
