Bowdich, 1825
Noctules
The ears are relatively short; the tragus of each is expanded distally, with a club shaped extremity (Fig. 224). The wings are peculiarly narrowed as the fifth finger of each wing is greatly shortened, its tip barely exceeding the third or fourth metacarpal. The body build is rather heavy (Nno1). The buccal pads in the mouth are strongly developed. The dorsal profile of the skull is nearly straight from the back of the nasal aperture to the lambda. The nasal aperture is unusually large, extending back half way to the interorbital constriction (BW26). The rostrum is broad and heavy, with an almost square outline when viewed from above. The second upper incisor (I3) is deeply concave, with a large anterior and a small posterior cusp. The first upper premolar (PM2) is extremely small and is often concealed from external view; M1 and M2 have small hypocones (Fig. 227).
Dental formula: i - 2 3 c 1 pm - 2 - 4 m 1 2 3 = 34.
1 2 3 1 - 2 - 4 1 2 3
The genus includes six species with a geographical range that extends from the Azores and western Europe to Japan, north Africa and Arabia. Three species occur in the Indian subcontinent:
Species of Nyctalus encountered in the Indian Subcontinent:
Nyctalus noctula
Nyctalus leisleri
Nyctalus montanus
Species identification
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