“The Vampire Bat,” says Mr. Darwin in his MS. notes upon the present
species, “is often the cause of much trouble, by biting the horses on
their withers. The injury is generally not so much owing to the loss of
blood, as to the inflammation which the pressure of the saddle
afterwards produces. The whole circumstance has lately been doubted in
England; I was therefore fortunate in being present when one was
actually caught on a horse’s back. We were bivouacking late one evening
near Coquimbo, in Chile, when my servant, noticing that one of the
horses was very restive, went to see what was the matter, and fancying
he could distinguish something, suddenly put his hand on the beast’s
withers, and secured the Vampire. In the morning, the spot where the
bite had been inflicted was easily distinguished from being slightly
swollen and bloody. The third day afterwards we rode the horse, without
any ill effects.”
Before the introduction of the domesticated quadrupeds, this Vampire Bat
probably preyed on the guanaco, or vicugna, for these, together with the
puma, and man, were the only terrestrial mammalia of large size, which
formerly inhabited the northern part of Chile. This species must be
unknown, or very uncommon in Central Chile, since Molina, who lived in
that part, says (Compendio de la Historia del Reyno de Chile, vol. i. p.
301,) “that no blood-sucking species is found in this province.”
It is interesting to find that the structure of this animal is in
perfect accordance with the habits as above detailed by Mr. Darwin.
Among other points, the total absence of true molars, and consequent
want of the power of masticating food, is the most remarkable. On the
other hand we find the canines and incisors perfectly fitted for
inflicting a wound such as described, while the small size of the
interfemoral membrane (giving freedom to the motions of the legs,)
together with the unusually large size of the thumb and claw, would
enable this Bat, as I should imagine, to fix itself with great security
to the body of the horse.
I have named this species after M. d’Orbigny, who has added so much to
our information on the zoological productions of South America. The
_Edostoma cinerea_[2] of that author has evidently a close affinity to
the animal here described, and differs chiefly (judging from the drawing
published in his work) in the larger size of the ears, in having the
nose-leaf free, and the surrounding membrane free and elevated.
As M. d’Orbigny has not yet published the character of his genus
_Edostoma_, his figure is my only guide, and in this figure I find the
dentition agreeing both with that of the present species, and that of
the genus _Desmodus_ of Prince Maximilian,—as would appear from the
published descriptions, and figure given by M. de Blainville[3].—The
points of distinction between M. d’Orbigny’s animal and the species here
described, are not, in my opinion, of sufficient importance to
constitute generic characters, I have, therefore, retained the name of
Desmodus.
It is desireable perhaps to separate the Blood-sucking Bats from the
Insectivorous species, and place them between the latter group and the
_Pteropina_, (with which they agree in the large size of the thumb and
the rudimentary interfemoral membrane,) under a sectional name, which I
propose to call _Hæmatophilini_.
1. PHYLLOSTOMA GRAYI.
PLATE II.
_P. fusco-cinereum; nasûs prosthemate lanceolato; auribus mediocribus,
trago basin versus extùs unidentato; caudâ gracillimâ, brevi, et
membranâ interfemorali inclusâ; verrucâ complanatâ ad apicem menti,
verrucis parvulis circumdatâ._
DESCRIPTION.—This Phyllostoma agrees with the species described by Mr.
J. Gray[4] under the name of Childreni, in having on the lower lip
“an half ovate group of crowded warts,” but is of a much smaller
size, and differs also in colour.
The number of teeth are as follows:—incisors ⁴⁄₄; canines ²⁄₂; molars
5⁵⁄₅–5 = 32. The intermediate pair of incisors of the upper jaw
are large, compressed, and have their apices rounded; the lateral
pair are so minute, that they are scarcely visible without the
assistance of a lens: the four incisors of the lower jaw, are
somewhat crowded, the intermediate pair are slightly larger than
the lateral; they are all deeply notched, and broad at the apex.
The cerebral portion of the skull is much arched and the anterior
portion is depressed. The zygomatic arch is imperfect; see Pl. 35.
figs. 2. The nose-leaf is lanceolate, and of moderate size: the
ears are also of moderate size; they are rounded at the tip and
emarginated on their exterior edge: the tragus is elongated, and
suddenly attenuated towards the apex; the outer margin is deeply
notched towards the base, and very obscurely crenulated above this
notch. The interfemoral membrane is of moderate extent, and
emarginated posteriorly. The tail, which is very slender, is
entirely enclosed by the interfemoral membrane, and the visible
portion appears to consist of but two joints, which together,
measure about two and a half lines in length. The basal half of
the thumb is enclosed in membrane. The fur is soft and rather
long. The general tint of the upper and under parts of the body is
brownish-ash; the hairs on the neck and on the whole of the back
are grey at the base, then white, or nearly so, brownish-ash near
the tip, and whitish at the tip. On the belly the hairs are nearly
of an uniform brown-ash colour, their apices only being whitish.
The ears, nose-leaf, and membrane of the wings, are of a
sooty-black hue.
In. Lines.
Length of head and body 2 0
antibrachium 1 4⅓
thumb (claw included) 0 5½
tibia 0 7
ear 0 7
nose-leaf 0 3⅓
Expanse the wings
of 10 0