COENDU, DASYPROCTA, 403 
Color. Blackish brown above and beneath; spines of back yel- 
lowish white on basal three-fifths, remainder brownish black, tips 
horny; hands, feet, and tail black. 
Measurements. Total length, 708; tail, 256; hind foot, with claws, 
75. Skull: greatest length, 80; basilar length, 67; zygomatic breadth, 
47; length of nasals, 24; breadth of nasals, anteriorly, 16; breadth of 
nasals at fronto-premaxillary suture, 12.8; interorbital constriction, 
25.5; palatal length, 35.7; height of forehead, above premolars 27.7; 
length of upper tooth row, 19. 
The Rodents with hoof-like claws of the family AGOUTIDA, 
resemble in their general outward appearance a ruminant, such as 
the little musk-deer, more than a rodent. Slender of form and limbs, 
they are small of stature with very short ears and tail. Two genera 
contain all the known species, distinguished from each other by the 
number of toes on the hind foot, the members of Dasyprocta having 
three, and those of AcGouti five. The former genus contains a num- 
ber of species, distributed in Central and South America, and even 
on some of the West India islands; but on these last only two have 
been found as yet, one of which has a great range, for it is a native 
of South America as far south as Paraguay, but is not met with 
west of the Andean Chain of Mountains, being replaced in Ecuador 
by A. taczanowski. The absence of tail in the Agoutis is compen- 
sated for by the length of the hairs on the rump, which fall over so 
far that they would hide any moderately long tail. Agoutis are 
dwellers both of the woods and plains, agile in their movements, 
and swift runners. Nocturnal in habits, they remain hidden for the 
greater part of the day. Their food is chiefly vegetable. 
Fam. VIIl. Agoutidz. Agoutis. 
E. R. Alston. The genus Dasyprocta, with Description of a New 
Species. Proc. Zodl. Soc. Lond., 1876, p. 347. 
81. Dasyprocta. Agoutis. Paca. 
I— — 3-3 
I.—; P.—; ee ='20, 
2) 
Dasyprocta Illiger, Prodr. Syst. Mamm. et Av., 1811, p. 93. Type 
> 
Cutia Liais, Climats. Géol. Faune et Geog. Bot. Brésil, 1872, 
P. 534- 
Myoprocta Thomas, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 7th Ser., x11, 1903, 
p. 464. 
