310 THE ANATOMY OF VERTEBRATED ANIMALS. 



existing species. M. hexaprotodon had more numerous incis- 

 ors than any other species. 



c. In the Tapir idm there are four toes on the front-foot, 

 though the ulnar digit does not reach the ground. The hind- 

 foot has three toes. 



The dental formula is i. jr^ e. ^^ ^^.m. 3-73 m. 3-7^. 



The molar teeth each present two transverse, or slightly- 

 oblique ridges, connected by a low wall externally. 



The skin is soft and hairy, and the muzzle and snout are 

 prolonged into a short proboscis. 



The Tapirs have twenty-three or twenty-four dorso-lumbar 

 vertebrse, of which nineteen or twenty are usually dorsal. 

 The centra of these vertebrge, and the transverse processes of 

 the last lumbars, have the same peculiarities as those of the 

 Horse and Rhinoceros. There are seven sacral and about 

 twelve caudal vertebrae. The skull is partly Rhinocerotic, 

 partly Equine, in its characters. Thus there is a sagittal crest 

 — the post-tympanic processes are large, but they are not so 

 long as the paramastoids, and they do not unite with the post- 

 glenoidal processes beneath the meatus. In these respects 

 the Tapir is Horse-like, but in the following it is more Rhino- 

 cerotic. 



Thus the tympanic is quite rudimentary ; the post-glenoid- 

 al process is larger than in the Horse ; the orbit is not sepa- 

 rated from the temporal fossa ; the nasals are widely sepa- 

 rated from the premaxillse ; the premaxillse are very small, and 

 are early anchylosed. 



The hinder margin of the osseous palate is opposite the 

 anterior edge of the penultimate molar. The mandibular rami 

 unite in a very long symphysis ; the ascending portion of the 

 ramus is large, and projects backward with a convex edge in 

 a remarkable manner. There is a high coronoid process. 



In the fore-limb, the scapula has no acromion, and the 

 coracoid is a mere tubercle. The supraspinous fossa is very 

 much larger than in the Horse or Rhinoceros. The radius and 

 the ulna are complete, but not movable upon one another. 

 Although, by the completion of the fifth digit, in addition to 

 the second, third, and fourth, there are four digits in the 

 manus, the Perissodactyle character is manifested by the fact 

 that the third is lon2:est, and svmmetrical in itself, while the 

 others are asymmetrical. The femur has a strong third tro- 

 chanter ; the fibula is complete ; the astragalus more Rhino- 

 cerotic than Equine. There is no trace of a hallux, but the 



