Water-Chevrotain 5 1 5 



chevrotain (Dorcatherium aquatiaim) of the West Coast. The water-chevro- 

 tain is chiefly distinguished from the Asiatic genus by the shorter and 

 stouter feet, the larger lateral hoofs, and the absence of a true cannon- 

 bone in the fore-legs. 



Water-Chevrotain {Dorcatherium aquatiaim) 



Like many of the animals of Western Africa, the water-chevrotain is 

 but little known in Europe, although it has been exhibited in the London 

 Zoological Gardens, where it has once bred. It is a somewhat larger 

 animal than the Indian chevrotain (Tragu/us memim/ia), with which, 

 however, it agrees in having its reddish-brown fur profusely spotted and 

 striped with white, the thick and irregular stripes having a longitudinal 

 direction, and being mostly confined to the flanks. There are large 

 patches of white on the throat and chest, while the under surface of the 

 tail is also white. About 13 or 14 inches is the height at the shoulder. 



Compared with the Oriental chevrotains, or mouse-deer, the water- 

 chevrotain, which is the only existing species of its kind, has stouter and 

 shorter feet, with relatively larger lateral toes and hoofs. Such slight 

 differences would, however, scarcely be regarded as entitling the creature 

 to be separated from the genus Tragulus. Such separation is, however, 

 justified by the structure of the skeleton of the lower part of the fore-leg, 

 which consists of two distinct bones lying parallel to one another, instead 

 of a single bone only. For a long time the water-chevrotain was 

 known by the name of Hyomoschus ; but, as certain fossil ruminants, 

 described at an earlier date as Dorcatherium, differ only by having four 

 instead of three pairs of lower premolar teeth, the latter name may 

 replace the former ; such a slight difference as the variation in the 

 number of the lower teeth being scarcely sufficient to justify the separation 

 of the recent and extinct forms as distinct genera. 



