THE PECCARIES. 



347 



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PECCARY. 



the shape of the teeth, the grinders presenting transverse ridges, as may be seen from the comparison of 



the accompanying figure with that of the Hog. 



There is also another important difference to be noted between the Peccaries and the True Hogs 



in the structure of the feet. In the former, 

 the middle metatarsals and metacarpals unite 

 into a solid cannon bone analogous to that of 

 cattle, while in the latter they are distinct 

 during the whole life of the animal. 



Two species of Peccary are known, the 

 COMMON, OR TAJUCA, OR COLLARED PECCARY 

 (Dicotyles torquatus), which ranges from Texas 

 as far as the Straits of Magellan, and the 

 WHITE-LIPPED PECCARY (Z>. labiatus), of the 

 forests of South America. The latter is the 

 larger of the two, and the more ferocious. 



THE FOSSIL HOGS. The remains of the 

 Fossil Hog are met with in the fossil state in 

 Europe, as far back as the Miocene Age, in 



which period, as Professor Gaudry has pointed out, the canines were not developed into large tusks 



in the Hog tribe. In the Pliocene Age the males possessed moderate tusks, and in the Pleistocene. 



as at the present time, the forests of Europe were haunted by large " tuskers." 



ST13 

 DENTITION OF PECCARY. (A, Upper; B, Lower jaw.) 





