Peters, 1859
Pale Long-eared bats
These are large Vespertilionid bats. The ears are proportionately very large, from half to two-thirds as long as the forearm; their tips are broadly rounded-off (Ohe1). The form of the penis is very unusual, with the glans expanded dorso-ventrally and projected forwards between two lateral swellings; a third median swelling is situated on the dorsal surface of the penis (Fig. 146b). The skull (Fig. 159) is essentially like that of a large Eptesicus , but more elongated and narrow and with the interorbital region deeper and the lambda lower. The supraorbital ridges terminate posteriorly in sharply angular projections suggesting postorbital processes. The tympanic bullae are very large. The teeth (Fig. 160) differ from those of Eptesicus (Fig. 175) in the absence of a second incisor (I3). In Otonycteris , the single upper incisor (I2) is large, unicuspid and with a prominent cingulum postero-laterally (Fig. 161). M3 is very reduced and is without a metacone or mesostyle. The lower incisors are bicuspid.
Dental formula: i - 2 - c 1 pm - - - 4 m 1 2 3 = 30.
1 2 3 1 - 2 - 4 1 2 3
The genus includes one species with a geographical range that extends from Morocco and Niger to Egypt, Arabia, Afghanistan and India:
Otonycteris hemprichii