1030 THE UNGULATES, OR HOOFED MAMMALS 



during the day and at night; and when food is scarce they make long migrations in 

 search of it. Their chief food consists of fruits and roots; and their teeth and jaws 

 are of such strength as to enable them to crack with ease the hard seeds of palms. 

 In inhabited districts peccaries inflict much damage on growing crops; and, in addi- 

 tion to roots and fruits, they are by no means averse to varying their diet with car- 

 rion, worms, or insects. Their flesh is not much esteemed; and it is essential that 

 immediately the animals are killed, the ill-smelling gland on the back should be re- 

 moved, as otherwise the flesh will become tainted. As a general rule, but a single 

 young one is produced at a birth, two being comparatively rare. When taken 

 young, peccaries are easily tamed, although it does not appear that any attempts 

 have been made to establish a domesticated breed. Large numbers of them are de- 

 stroyed by jaguars and pumas. 



Fossil remains of peccaries, some belonging to living and others to 

 ypes extinct species, occur in the Pleistocene deposits of both North and 

 South America. In addition to these, certain extinct Pliocene and Miocene hog-like 

 animals seem to indicate the parent stock from which both the peccaries and the 

 true pigs have been derived. Of these Chcerohyus, from North America, comes 

 closest to the peccaries, while the Old-World Hyotherium, of which two upper molar 

 teeth are figured on p. 1008, is more like the pigs. Listriodon is another European 

 type, in which the molars have a pair of transverse ridges instead of four tubercles. 

 Finally Chceropotamus , from the upper Eocene of England and France, connects the 

 type of molar teeth characteristic of the pigs with that of the extinct anthracothere 

 referred to on p. 1008. 



THE HIPPOPOTAMI 

 Family HlPPOPOTAMlD^ 



Although the Greek term hippopotamus, and its English equivalent river horse, 

 are etymologically decidedly objectionable ones to denote the animals we have now 

 to describe, yet the former at least is so firmly established in European languages 

 that it would be impossible to attempt to change it. The Dutch term see-kuh, com- 

 monly translated sea-cow, but which we think might equally bear the interpretation 

 lake-cow, and a name used by the Arabs which means water buffalo, are far less ob- 

 jectionable; but a title equivalent to river swine, which is said to have been conferred 

 on these animals by the ancient Egyptians, is, from a zoological standpoint, faj and 

 away the best of all. 



The common hippopotamus, together with a much smaller species from West 

 Africa 1 , constitute a family by themselves, which is also the last group of the Even- 

 Toed Ungulates. Hippopotami are bulky animals, with round, barrel-like bodies of 

 great length, very short and thick legs, and enormous heads, in which the muzzle 

 is angular and greatly expanded transversely, and has no trace of the terminal disc 

 characteristic of the swine and peccaries. Indeed, the ugly head of a hippopotamus 

 appears as if it were too large and heavy for its owner, since the animal may fre- 

 quently be seen resting its ungainly muzzle on the ground, as though to relieve the 



