Contents: I. Introduction: 1. Scope. 2. Review of literature. 3. History of bat collecting in West Bengal. II. Material and methods: 1. Collecting methods. 2. Methods of preserving. 3. Measurements taken. 4. Arrangement. 5. Other methods. 6. Abbreviations used. III. Systematic account. Order: Chiroptera. Family: Pteropodidae. Genus Rousettus: 1. Rousettus leschenaulti leschenaulti (Desmarest). Genus Pteropus: 2. Pteropus giganteus giganteus (Brunnich). Genus Cynopterus: 3. Cynopterus sphinx sphinx (Vahl). Genus Megaerops: 4. Megaerops niphanae Yenbutra & Felten. Genus Sphaerias: 5. Sphaerias blanfordi (Thomas). Genus Eonycteris: 6. Eonycteris spelaea spelaea (Dobson). Genus Macroglossus: 7. Macroglossus sobrinus sobrinus Andersen. Family: Rhinopomatidae. Genus Rhinopoma: 8. Rhinopoma microphyllum kinneari Wroughton. 9. Rhinopoma hardwickei hardwickei Gray. Family: Emballonuridae. Genus Taphozous: 10. Taphozous longimanus longimanus Hardwickei. 11. Taphozus saccolaimus crassus Blyth. 12. Taphozous nudiventris kachhensis Dobson. Family: Megadermatidae. Genus Megaderma: 13. Megaderma spasma horsfieldi Blyth. 14. Megaderma Iyra Iyra E. Geoffroy. Family: Rhinolophidae. Genus Rhinolophus: 15. Rhinolophus affinis himalayanus Andersen. 16. Rhinolophus rouxi rouxi Temminck. 17. Rhinolophus pusillus blythi Andersen. 18. Rhinolophus lepidus lepidus Blyth. 19. Rhinolophus lactus perniger Hodgson. 20. Rhinolophus trigoliatus trifoliatus Temminck. 21. Rhinolophus pearsoni Horsfield. Genus: Hipposideros: 22. Hipposideros Pomona gentilis Andersen. 23. Hipposideros fulvus pallidus Andersen. 24. Hipposideros cineraceus Blyth. 25. Hipposideros armiger armiger (Hodgson). 26. Hipposideros lankadiva Kelaart. Genus Coelops: 27. Coelops frithi frithi Blyth. Family: Vespertilionidae. Genus Myotis: 28. Myotis sicarius Thomas. 29. Myotis mystacinus nipalensis (Dobson). 30. Myotis muricola muricola (Gray). 31. Myotis siligorensis siligorensis (Hodgson). 32. Myotis annectans (Dobson). 33. Myotis formosus formosus (Hodgson). 34. Myotis hasseltii (Temminck). Genus Plecotus: 35. Plecotus auritus homochrous Hodgson. Genus Barbastella: 36. Barbastella leucomelas darjelingensis (Hodgson). Genus Scotomanes: 37. Scotomanes ornatus ornatus (Blyth). Genus Scotophilus: 38. Scotophilus kuhli kuhli Leach. 39. Scotophilus heathi heathi (Horsfield). Genus Eptesicus: 40. Eptesicus tatei Ellerman & Morrison-Scott. Genus Tylonycteris: 41. Tylonycteris pachypus fulvida (Blyth). Genus Pipistrellus: 42. Pipistrellus babu Thomas. 43. Pipistrellus peguensis Sinha. 44. Pipistrellus coromandra coromandra (Gray). 45. Pipistrellus mimus Wroughton. 46. Pipistrellus ceylonicus indicus (Dobson). 47. Pipistrellus cadornae Thomas. 48. Pipistrellus affinis (Dobson). Genus Scotozous: 49. Scotozous dormeri Dobson. Genus Scotoecus: 50. Scotoecus pallidus (Dobson). Genus Nyctalus: 51. Nyctalus noctula labiatus (Hodgson). Genus Hesperoptenus: 52. Hesperoptenus tickelli (Blyth). Genus Miniopterus: 53. Miniopterus schreibersi fuliginosus (Hodgson). Genus Murina: 54. Murina leucogaster rubex Thomas. 55. Murina tubinaris (Scully). 56. Murina huttoni huttoni Peters. 57. Murina cyclotis cyclotis Dobson. Genus Harpiocephalus: 58. Harpiocephalus harpia lasyurus (Hodgson). 59. Harpiocephalus mordax (Thomas). Genus: Kerivoula: 60. Karivoula picta picta Pallas. 61. Kerivoula hardwickei depressa Miller. 62. Kerivoula papillosa lenis Thomas. Family: Molossidae. Genus: Tadarida: 63. Tadarida teniotis insignis (Blyth). 64. Tadarida aegyptiaca tragata (Dobson). 65. Tadarida plicata plicata (Buchannan). Discussion and conclusions: 1. Species diversity. 2. Distributional pattern. 3. Habitat preference. 4. Zoogeographic considerations. 5. Taxonomic changes. 6. Taxa added to the Chiropteran fauna of West Bengal. Summary. Literature cited.

From the introduction: "The present project is on the taxonomy and zoogeography of Indian bats. It has been estimated by the present worker that a total of 116 species of bats belonging to two suborders, seven families and 34 genera occur within the limits of the Indian Union (including the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and the Lakshadweep). In this vast geographical area many of the species of bats are represented by more than one subspecies. If the subspecies are taken into consideration, the total number of species and subspecies of bats occurring in India goes up to 130. A detailed account of all these 130 taxa of bats would be too voluminous for the present project. Hence, it was decided that only some of the Indian bats should be included in the present study.