124 



MAMMALIA— ORDER VI. — VNGULATA. 



Fig. 67. — A HvRAX {Proeavia). 



The Tapirs- 

 Family 



Tapiridun. 



being coated with enamel. Tiie clieek teeth, wliicli include four pairs of 

 premolars and four of molars in each jaw, are singularly like those of the 

 rhinoceroses, and thus quite different from those of the Rodents. With the 



exception of the second toe of the hind-foot, 

 the toes are protected by short, broad nails ; 

 and the tail is remarkable for its extreme 

 shortness. In general appearance, hyraces 

 (whicli are the conies of Scripture) are very 

 like large cavies. While the majority live in 

 colonies among the cracks and crannies of 

 rocks, some of the African species are arboreal 

 in their habits, climbing the stems and larger 

 branches of trees, and sleeping in their holes ; 

 in this respect they are unique among the 

 Ungulate order. 



The primitive and ancient group of animals commonly known as tapirs are 

 the first representatives of the third sub-ordinal section of the Ungulates, 

 technically termed the Perissodactyle section. The essential 

 feature of the members of this section is to be found in the 

 structure of tlie feet, in which the toe corresponding to the 

 third or middle digit of the human hand or foot is always 

 larger than the one on each side of it, and symmetrical in 

 itself ; the total number of toes on the hind-foot never exceeding three, and 

 on the front-foot four. It is in consequence of this special development of 

 the third toe that the group is spoken of as the Odd-toed or Perissodactyle 

 Ungulates. In addition to this essential feature, the Perissodactyla differ 

 from the two preceding sub-orders in the structure of the wrist-j(jint of the 

 fore-foot, in which the two horizontal rows of small bones not only interlock 

 with one another, but are likewise not disposed in vertical lines immediately 

 above the supporting metacarpals. Hence in these animals it would be im- 

 possible to cleave the foot between any two of the toes without cutting through 

 solid bone. A further difference from the elephants is to be found in the 



circumstance that the huckle-bone, 

 or astragalus, of the ankle-joint of 

 the Perissodactyles is a vertically 

 elongated bone terminating above 

 in a deeply grooved, pulley-like 

 surface for articulation with the 

 larger bone of the leg, instead of 

 being shallow, with a flat upper 

 surface. All these animals walk 

 in the digitigrade fashion on the 

 summits of their toes, which are 

 more elongated than in the ele- 

 pliants. At the present day the 

 Perissodactyla are represented by 

 only three families, each containing a comparatively small number of species ; 

 but in former epochs of the earth's history they were much more numer- 

 ous. 



From the other members of tlie sub-order, tapirs, which are somewhat pig-like 

 and antediluvian-looking animals, are readily distinguished by the production 

 of the muzzle into a short, mobile snout, and the presence of four toes on the 



Fig. 68. — Malayan Tapir (Taplrus itidicus). 



