Bats - Old scientific engraving - Ernst Haeckel, Kunstformen der Natur

Reproduction engraving of: Bats

Original title Chiroptera - Fledertiere

Vampyrus Poster - Vertebrates of the class Mammalia, subclass True Marsupials (Order Bats, Chiroptera)

Illustration from the book Kunstformen der Natur, which is a collection of artistic lithographs of natural sciences published by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel between 1899 and 1904.

This naturalistic illustration is part of an overall style inspired by Ernst Haeckel, which greatly influenced the emerging Art Nouveau movement at the beginning of the ^20th century. This work, illustrating the impressive beauty and great diversity of the biological world, was complemented by a certain amount of scientific information, some excerpts of which are reproduced below.

This information is over 120 years old and some of it may be outdated!

Scientific classification:

 Vertebrate Phylum (Vertebrata)
Main class Gnathostomes (Gnathostoma)
Class of Mammals (Mammalia)
Subclass of Placentaria (Placentalia)
Order of Bats (Chiroptera)

Scientific notice (extract) accompanying the poster print of Chiroptera - Chiroptera :

Chiroptera, commonly called bats, are distinguished from other mammals primarily by their unique flying apparatus, the thin, broad membrane called the "patagium," which extends between the elongated fingers of the hand and the sides of the body, as well as between the hind limbs and the tail. Secondly, bats are distinguished by the remarkable structure of their face, characterized by small eyes and the unusual size of the ears and nose. Variously shaped skin folds and appendages on these highly developed sensory organs contribute to a very fine sensory sensitivity, necessary for their nocturnal or twilight vision. All the bats depicted on this plate belong to the suborder of insectivorous bats (Nycterina), which includes over 400 distinct species. They are divided into two groups: bare-nosed bats and leaf-nosed bats. Bare-nosed bats (Gymnorhina) (Figs. 1—3, 8, 12) have a small nose without a nasal appendage and often large ears with particularly developed internal lobules (tragus). In contrast, leaf-nosed bats (Phyllorhina) are distinguished by the presence of a strange, often large and richly structured nasal appendage, consisting of three growing parts: an anterior horseshoe leaf, a middle saddle leaf, and a posterior lanceolate leaf, usually inclined upwards (Figs. 4—7, 9—11, 13—15).

Species present on the naturalist board of Chiroptera - Vampyrus :

• Plecotus auritus
• Nyctophilus australis
• Megaderma trifolium
• Vampyrus auritus
• Lonchorhina aurita
• Natalus stramineus
• Mormops blainvillei
• Anthops ornatus
• Phyllostoma hastatum
• Furipterus coerulescens
• Rhinolophus equinus
• Centurio flavigularis
• Vampyrus spectrum