Peters, 1872
Flat-headed bats
This genus is characterised by the remarkable flattening of the skull (Fig. 191). Externally it is like a small Eptesicus with the entire head greatly broadened and flattened (Fig. 190). There is a conspicuous fleshy pad on the ball of the thumb and sole of the foot (Fig. 196). The skull is so broad that the depth of the braincase through the tympanic bullae is barely one half the mastoid breadth. The upper surface is flat, sloping gradually forward to the nares. The rostrum is very short and broad, its length scarcely equal to the lachrymal breadth. There is a distinct blunt projection (supraorbital process) over the anterior upper edge of each orbit (Fig. 197). The first upper incisor is conspicuously bicuspidate, its crown is much longer than broad. The upper canine has a well developed secondary cusp on its posterior edge (Fig. 194).
Dental formula: i - 2 3 c 1 pm - - - 4 m 1 2 3 = 32.
1 2 3 1 - 2 - 4 1 2 3
There are two species in the genus with a geographical range that extends from India and southern China to Indonesia and the Philippines. Both species occur in the Indian subcontinent:
Species of Tylonycteris encountered in the Indian Subcontinent:
Tylonycteris pachypus
Tylonycteris robustula
Species identification
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