COENDU. DASYPROCTA. 403 



Color. Blackish brown above and beneath; spines of back yel- 

 lowish white on basal three-fifths, remainder brownish black, tips 

 horny; hands, feet, and tail black. 



Measurements. Total length, 708; tail, 256; hind foot, with claws, 

 75. Skull: greatest length, 80; basilar length, 67 ; zygomatic breadth, 

 47; length of nasals, 24; breadth of nasals, anteriorly, 16; breadth of 

 nasals at fronto-premaxillary suture, 12.8; interorbital constriction, 

 25.5; palatal length, 35.7; height of forehead, above premolars 27.7; 

 length of upper tooth row, 19. 



The Rodents with hoof-like claws of the family AGOUTID^E, 

 resemble in their general outward appearance a ruminant, such as 

 the little musk-deer, more than a rodent. Slender of form and limbs, 

 they are small of stature with very short ears and tail. Two genera 

 contain all the known species, distinguished from each other by the 

 number of toes on the hind foot, the members of DASYPROCTA having 

 three, and those of AGOUTI five. The former genus contains a num- 

 ber of species, distributed in Central and South America, and even 

 on some of the West India islands; but on these last only two have 

 been found as yet, one of which has a great range, for it is a native 

 of South America as far south as Paraguay, but is not met with 

 west of the Andean Chain of Mountains, being replaced in Ecuador 

 by A. taczanowski. The absence of tail in the Agoutis is compen- 

 sated for by the length of the hairs on the rump, which fall over so 

 far that they would hide any moderately long tail. Agoutis are 

 dwellers both of the woods and plains, agile in their movements, 

 and swift runners. Nocturnal in habits, they remain hidden for the 

 greater part of the day. Their food is chiefly vegetable. 



Fam. VIII. Agoutidee. Agoutis. 



E. R. Alston. The genus Dasyprocta, with Description of a New 

 Species. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1876, p. 347. 



81. Dasyprocta. Agoutis. Paca. 



i.S;P.S:M.g = . 



Dasyprocta Illiger, Prodr. Syst. Mamm. et Av., 1811, p. 93. Type 



Cutia Liais, Climats. Ge"ol. Faune et Geog. Bot. Bre"sil, 1872, 



P- 534- 



Myoprocta Thomas, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 7th Ser., xn, 1903, 

 p. 464. 



