DASYPROCTA. 171 
Fam. VI. DASYPROCTIDA. 
1. DASYPROCTA. 
Agouti, Lacépéde, Mém. de VInst. Nat. iii. p. 424 (1801) *. 
Dasyprocta, Wliger, Prod. Syst. Mamm. &c. p. 93 (1811). 
Cloromis [sic], Fréd. Cuvier, Ann. du Mus. xix. p. 290 (1812). 
Both the known genera of the exclusively Neotropical family Dasyproctide are 
represented in Central America, the present by at least three species. ‘The genus 
Dasyprocta is characterized by a compact body, long limbs, three-toed hind feet, and a 
very short or even rudimentary tail: the skull is elongated and smooth, with no separate 
canal in the infraorbital opening, and no cavity in the malars; the paroccipital processes 
are short; and the molars are very simple. 
Many species of Agouti, all very closely allied, have been described from various parts 
of the Neotropical Region. In revising the group four years agof I recognized eight 
or nine geographical races as deserving of specific distinction ; and this still appears to 
me to represent the present state of our knowledge, although it is not improbable that 
future investigation may prove that some of these forms grade into one another. The 
three Central-American races are all peculiar to the subregion, and differ from one 
another in the following points :— 
1. D. isthmica. Fur ringed with black and yellow; long hairs of rump not 
~ annulated, black with broad orange or yellow tips. Length of head and body 
about 22", of hind foot 4°25. 
2. D. punctata. Fur ringed with black and bright rufous or yellow, that of throat 
and breast uniform with the back; hairs of rump annulated to their base. 
Length about 22”, of hind foot 4”. 
3. D. mexicana. Fur ringed with black and pure white, long hairs of rump not annu- 
lated, black throughout their length. Length about 17", of hind foot 3"50. 
Besides these the Zoological Society has received from Colon living specimens of 
D. variegata, Tschudi, a Peruvian and Colombian form, easily distinguishable by its 
black fur being ringed with pale yellow only near the tip. The exact locality whence 
these animals were obtained, however, is uncertain. 
1. Dasyprocta isthmica. (Tab. XVIII. figg. 2, 3.) 
: Dasyprocta cristata, Waterhouse, Nat. Hist. Mamm. ii. p. 384’; Frantzius, Arch. f. Naturg. xxxv. 
1, p. 274 (nec Et. Geoffroy)”. 
Dasyprocta punctata, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1874,.p. 665 (nec Gray)’. 
Dasyprocta isthmica, Alston, P. Z. 8. 1876, p. 347 (deser. orig.)*. 
Hab. Costa Rica (Hoffmann & Frantzius, Mus. Berol.?); Panama (Brit. Mus.; Viv. 
Zool. Soc.*). | 
* Of. supra, p. 3, footnote. t “On the Genus Dasyprocta,” P.Z.8. 1876, pp. 847-352, pl. xxix. 
Z 2 
