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44 



THE odd-toi<:d ungulates. 



The Malayan or Shabrack Tapir, the Maiba 

 of thenatives( Tapirusindicus{malayanus)), fig. 

 147, is distinguished from the Brazilian only by 

 its rather shorter proboscis flattened under- 

 neath, by the less abrupt profile of the head, 

 by the absence of the mane, and by the 

 colour and markings of the skin. The whole 

 body is very dark with the exception of the 



hinder part, which is of a dirty-white colour, 

 and makes it appear as if the whole of the 

 body from the shoulders to the root of the 

 tail and the top of their thighs were covered 

 with a shabrack or horse-cloth fastened under 

 the belly. This rare species, found chiefly 

 on the Malay Peninsula and the island of 

 Sumatra, was first made known to science in 



1820. A few specimens have been brought 

 to Europe, but they have not lived long. 



An American species, the Andes or Hairy 

 Tapir {T. Roulinii ox vil/osus), has a still more 

 sloping forehead than the previous one, very 

 thick and dense hair, quite black, with an 

 indistinct whitish patch on the lips. By this 

 development of a woolly covering the species 

 has adapted itself to a life in the high valleys 

 of the Cordilleras at a height of 10,000 feet 

 and more, where severe winters prevail. 



Finally Baird's Tapir {E lasmognathus 

 ( Tapiriis) Bairdii), of a uniform dark brown, 

 with white lips and without a mane, has only 

 recently been discovered in Guatemala and 

 on the isthmus of Panama. This tapir is 

 distinguished in a very marked manner from 



Tapir {Tapir us iiiJicus). 



the others by the very level brow like that of 

 a boar, by the bony septum of the nose, and 

 by the more delicate and narrower hoofs. 

 The structure of the nose causes the skull to 

 resemble that of the following family. 



THE RHINOCEROS FAMILY 



(NASICORNIA). 



At the present day this family consists of 

 only a single genus, Rhinoceros, within which 

 subordinate groups have been formed in 

 accordance with the degree of persistence in 

 the incisors, the presence or absence of a 

 second horn, or even the greater or less thick- 

 ness of the hide. 



All rhinoceroses are huge, heavy, clumsy 



