THE RODENTS OF THE GENUS PLAGIODONTIA 



By Gerrit S. Miller, Jr. 



Curator of the Divion of Mammals, United States National Museum 



In 1836 Frederic Cuvier published ^ the description of a large 

 rodent which Alexander Ricord had discovered 10 years before ^ in 

 Haiti. He called the animal Plagiodontia sedium, the generic name 

 alluding to the oblique folds of enamel on the molar teeth, the 

 specific name suggested by the local appellation "Rat-Cayes," mean- 

 ing house rat. In addition to a detailed technical account and a 

 carefully prepared plate showing the external appearance, the skull 

 and the teeth, Cuvier gave a short paragraph on the habits of the 

 " Plagiodonte " taken from notes furnished by the collector. The 

 animals frequented human habitations. They were very good to 

 eat and the Haitians were even then, a century ago, hunting them to 

 the verge of extermination.^ Two specimens were brought to France 

 by Ricord, the tj^'pe, and an individual described by Paul Gervais in 

 the first volume of the Histoire Naturelle des Mammiferes, 1854 

 (pp. 346-347). Gervais figures the teeth (p. 346), and it is evident 

 that his drawing is not a copy of Cuvier's. 



The accounts written by Cuvier and Gervais long remained the 

 sole basis of our knowledge of Plagiodontia. For it was not until 

 February, 1916, that any further specimens were recorded. I then 

 published* a short note on some bones, including a mandible with 

 all its cheek teeth, found by W. M. Gabb in a kitchenmidden on 

 San Lorenzo Bay (south shore of Samana Bay), Dominican Republic, 

 in 1869-1871.^ These specimens had lain for years unnoticed in the 



1 Ann. Sci. Nat., ser. 2, vol. 6, pp. 347-353, pi. 17. 



' See Mulsant et Verreaux, Hist. Nat. des Giseaux-Mouches, vol. 2, p. 76, 1875, for date of Ricord's work 

 in the Antilles. 



» Ces animaux portent a Saint-Domingue le nom de Rat-Cayes, c'est-a-dire Rat des habitations, d'oii 

 nous avons tirg le nom specifique que nous leur donnons; ils se rapprochent en effet des lieux habitfis, 

 mais pendant la nuit seulement, ear ils fuient la clart6 du jour. Le male et la femelle se quittent peu 

 Leur nourriture prineipale consiste en racines et en fruits, et, comme tous les rongeurs frugivores, ils sont 

 ort bons a manger, et les Haltiens, qui en sont tres friands, les recherchent si soigneusement, qu'ils ont 

 fini par rendre ces animaux tres rares (p. 351) . 



* Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. 29, p. 47, Feb. 24, 1916. 



' See Gabb, Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc, new ser., vol. 15, pp. 146-147, 1873. 



No. 2712.— Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. 72, Art. 16.1 



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