572 



CHORD ATA. 



Family I. — Tapiridae. — These interesting animals, the tapirs, are 

 found in swampy forest districts of Brazil and of Malay. Hence 

 they form an instance of discontinuous distribution of a family. They 

 form the base of the present-day Perissodactyla ns they have f toes and 

 the teeth are bilophodont and brachydont. The upper molars show an 

 external ridge connecting the two transverse ridges, thus approaching 

 the rhinoceroses ; the incisors are of average length and the thinl 

 lower one resembles a canine. The dental formula is lit I- There is 

 a very slight proboscis or trunk. They feed upon the leaves and young 

 shoots of trees. 



Fig. 389. — The American Tapir {Tapirus Ajuericamis). 

 (From Flower and Lyddeker.) 



Tapirs occur in Europe and Asia in the Miocene strata, thus explain- 

 ing the discontinuous distribution in this instance by a dying-out of the 

 intermediate portions of a once widely and continuously distributed form. 



Family II. — Rhinocerotidae. — The rhinoceroses form a transition 

 family between the tapirs and horses. They are found in forest regions 

 of the Ethiopian and Oriental regions. They can move rapidly on fairly 

 hard ground and have three toes and hoofs on each foot. The teeth 

 are slightly more complex than the typical bilophodont. The two 

 transverse ridges are curved backwards, forming crescentoid ridges, 

 whilst they are connected externally by a longitudinal ridge. The 



