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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 1 2 



smaller but related species (Cheirodontinae) 

 which never exceed 2I/2 inches in length and are 

 light gray in color are known locally as piquira. 



Also caught to a lesser extent are the cascudo, 

 mandi, pidva, taid, and pirapitingra. The cascudo 

 (Loricariidae), or literally "the thick-shelled," 

 is named for its large, hard scales ; it is a slender, 

 dark-gray fish which reaches up to 12 inches in 

 length. The -mandi {Pimelodus) is a scaleless fish 

 similar in appearance to the tagre except that it is 

 more yellow in color and has bluish spots; it 

 reaches around 12 inches in length. A local spe- 

 cies, known as the mandipiva and more generally 

 referred to as the mandijuha (P. clarias), reaches 

 18 inches in length. The piava (Leporinus) 

 (Characidae) is silvery gray in color, with a dark 

 back and tail and a small mouth; its maximum 

 length is about 12 inches. The taid (Characidae) 

 is a silver -colored fish with a dark-gray back, a 

 large mouth and quite visible teeth; it at times 

 reaches 8 inches in length. Like the lambari, the 

 pirapitinga {Chalceus opalinus) is caught only 

 during those months when the sirirri and i^d are 

 available. It is an agile fish of silver color similar 

 to the lambari-gi/assu and is ordinarily found 

 among them. It reaches 12 inches in length and 

 weighs up to 2 pounds. The mouth is small. The 

 corinibatd {Prochilodus) and piracanjuha {Bry- 

 con) are caught farther up the river. 



A number of animals once common to the re- 

 gion are now extremely rare or have entirely dis- 

 ap2Deared: the on^a parda, on^a pintada^ jagua- 

 tirica, cotia, jacare, ovrigo, sagui*° sloth, otter, 

 fox, and anteater. Also occasionally to be seen are 

 the pred (piriu), cachon^o-do-mato^ mdo pelado, 

 iugio, sad, irdra, gavnhd^^ squirrel, rabbit, lizard, 

 and four kinds of armadillo (the canastra, galinha, 

 vei'melho, and do-rabo-mole *~) . 



Of considerable importance, however, still to- 

 day, so far as hunting is concerned, are five game 

 animals: the caphara, the ^)«'ca, the coati (qiiafi), 

 the wild pig, and the deer. The capivara and the 

 pdca are similar rodents. The capivara {Hydro- 

 choerus hydrochaer'is) is light brown in color and 



^^ Respectively : Puma concolor^ Panthera onQa^ Leopardus 

 pardalis hrasUiensis^ Dasyprocta azarae. Caiman latirostris, 

 Coendou villosus, and Callithrix aurita. 



" Respectively : Cavia aperea, Cerdocyon thoua, Procyon can- 

 crivorus nigripea, Alouatta caraya, CalHceius nigrifrons, Tayra 

 bat-bara, Didelphidae. 



" Respectively : Priodontes giganteua, Dasypua novemcinctua, 

 EuphracUta aexcinctus, and Cabasaoua unicinctua. 



weighs up to 130 pounds. The pdca {Cuniculus 

 paca) is only about a fourth as large when full 

 grown. The wild pig or ca/^ei^M {Tayassu tajacu), 

 sometimes called locally the tateto, looks much like 

 the domestic variety except that the body is less 

 corpulent and the legs are longer and more slender. 

 The bristles are extremely tough. This animal 

 roams in bands of at times as many as three hun- 

 dred individuals. Th.& coati (Nasiuisolitaria) has 

 a head similar in appearance to that of a fox. The 

 body, however, is much larger and the legs are 

 quite short. In general, it is yellowish gray in 

 color, with white stripes on the face, alternating 

 light and dark rings on the tail and black feet. It 

 also ordinarily runs in bands, as many as 12 to 15 

 individuals being at times seen together. Local 

 inhabitants refer to the coati-mundeo as a distinct 

 species; these animals, however, are merely aged 

 males which wander about alone, apparently hav- 

 ing been driven out of the band by the younger 

 males. The local deer or veado (Mazama ameri- 

 cana) , when full gi-own, is only about the size of 

 an average goat. It is then tawny in color, having 

 lost the white stripes on its back which it had as a 

 fawn. It is now the most numerous species of 

 game. 



One also finds in this area many different kinds 

 of birds. Those which are most often hunted or 

 trapped are the chim-guassu, jacu, juriti, nhambu- 

 giiassu, nhambu-chorord, rolinha, and uru. 



The chim-guasm, or ahna-de-gato (literally, 

 "cat's soul") , is more generally known as tinguassu 

 {Piaya cayana macroura) . Its back is of chocolate 

 color, the under parts being slate gray and the neck 

 and chest grayish red. The tail is half again as 

 long as the body. The jacu {Penelope supercili- 

 aris) is about the size of a small chicken, of brown 

 color, with small red wattles. It is usually found 

 in trees, although at times it is also to be seen on 

 the ground. In flight, its wings produce a sound 

 similar to a hoarse laugh. The juriti and the 

 rolinha are variant members of the dove family. 

 The rolinha {Colwnibigallina talpacoti) is smaller 

 than the juriti (Leptotila) and has a slightly 

 longer tail than is commonly to be found among 

 dove species. It is sometimes called fogo-apago*^ 

 a name derived from the sound it utters. Since, 

 also, the sound of its wings in flight is similar to 

 that made by the tail of a rattlesnake in motion, 



43 "The fire has gone out.'' 



