An analysis of implantation in Indian hipposiderid bats.

The meagre information on the early developmental stages and the evolutionary and taxonomic position of hipposiderid bats has stimulated the present study. The cranial segment of the uterus forms a balloon-like enlargement at the time of implantation, and the antimesometrial part of its huminal slit expands into a spacious implantation chamber. Implantation is superficial and circumferential and the embryonic disc is orientated towards the side of the uterus which lies between the lateral and the antimesometrial sides. Reichert's membrane develops early, and the formation of a symplasma is described. A comparative account of implantation in the four species of hipposiderid bats of the family Hipposideridae is given, and the taxonomic position of this family is discussed on the basis of the present observations and earlier work on the embryology of Chiroptera.