78 



FOOD 



ungulates that the vegetation of the earth is converted into 

 forms of food which carnivorous mammals can digest and assi- 

 milate. The Artiodactyla stand somewhat apart from the other 

 three groups and probably have a different origin in the 

 remote geological past. 



The little Hyrax, the coney of the Bible, is externally much 

 more like a rodent than like an ungulate, but anatomically 

 it is allied to the latter group. Conies are confined to Arabia, 

 Palestine and Africa. They feed by night, their principal diet 



Fig. 26. Indian Rhinoceros, Rhinoceros unicornis. From Wolf. 



being the leaves and young shoots of plants. Their nearest 

 allies the elephants, again, are strictly herbivorous; any 

 visitor to the Zoo will recall their fondness for fruit, cakes 

 and buns. Their extremely delicate and sensitive proboscis 

 is well adapted for seizing and conveying food to the mouth. 

 When we come to the odd-toed ungulates, the Perisso- 

 DACTYLA, we find that amongst them are many highly domesti- 

 cated animals such as the horse and the ass, w^hose food in 

 the main is fresh or dried grass. But the wild-ass of Central 

 Asia will consume the woody plants which form the main 

 vegetation of that very arid region. As a rule the rhinoceros 

 rests by day. Towards evening it will turn out to feed, living 



