362 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS OF THE UNITED STATES 



representatives in the United States, the other two families being the 

 Hippopotamidcd and the Suidce. 



Family Tayassuidae. — Peccaries. Small pigs with 3 toes on the 

 hind feet and 4 toes on the fore feet; large musk gland in the middle of 

 the rump; dentition 2/3, i/i, ;^l7,, 3/3: 2 American genera. 



Pecan Reichenbach. With the characters of the family: about 4 

 species, in Mexico, Central and South America. 



P. angulatus (Cope). Collared peccary; muskhog. Color mixed 

 black and white above, black predominating on the face and mane and 

 back; white band over the shoulders to the middle of the back; under 

 parts, nose and hoofs black; length 960 mm.; tail 60 mm.; weight 75 

 lbs.: southwestern Texas and into New Mexico and Mexico; gregarious 

 animals, omnivorous in feeding habits, which are found in dense forests 

 and also among scattered thickets on sandy plains; number of young i. 



Division 2. Ruminantia. — Ruminant Artiodactyla with, in most 

 species, no incisors or canines in the upper jaw; metacarpals and 

 metatarsals, in most species (all American), fused to form the single 

 ''cannonbone;" horns present in very many species; stomach complex, 

 being divided into 4 compartments, the ruminating habit of the animals 

 consisting in the swallowing of the food first into the capacious first 

 compartment or paunch; its return to the mouth for further mastica- 

 tion (the chewing of the cud), and the second swallowing of it into the 

 other three compartments, where it is digested: 2 subdivisions and 3 

 families in this country. 



Key to the Subdivisions of Ruminantia 



ai Horns of solid bone which are shed periodically; deer i. Cervina. 



a2 Horns hollow and composed of horn and usually not shed; cattle; 



antelopes 2. Cavicornia. 



I. Cervina. Deer. The males, and in the reindeers the females 

 also, possess solid bone antlers which are shed every spring: i family. 



Family Cervidae. — With the characters of the subdivision : about 60 

 species, which are found in all the geographical regions except the 

 Australian and African. The animals occur chiefly in forest regions and 

 on grassy plains where they live on herbs, leaves, buds and young bark; 

 about 25 species in the United States and Canada, grouped in 4 genera. 



Key to the Genera of Cervidae 



ai Antlers cylindrical and not palmate. 



bi Antlers directed backwards, the prongs forwards i. Cervus. 



b2 Antlers directed forwards, the prongs upwards 2. Odocoileus. 



