1865.] 



Sclater on the Mammals of South America. 



G19 



regions of Central and Southern America, and the Hairy Tapir 

 (T. villosus), a little-known species peculiar to the Peruvian Andes, 

 of which, I believe, there is no specimen in any museum in this 

 country. 



Of SuidaB, as I have already said, the Neotropical region possesses 

 but a single form, the Peccary (Dicotyles). The two known species of 

 this form appear to be widely diffused from Guatemala throughout 

 Central and Southern America to Paraguay, wherever suitable locali- 

 ties exist. The Collared Peccary (D. torquatus) ranges farther north- 

 ward than the white-lipped species, occurring even in the plains of 

 Texas. 



The Cervidaa of the Neotropical region are some nine or ten in 

 number, pretty generally distributed throughout the whole area, 

 except in the extreme South. They are all, however, referable to the 

 less typical forms of the group — true Cervus only occurring in the 

 Palsearctic and Nearctic Eegions. Furcifer, Blastocerus, and Coassus 

 are the sub-generic names of the Neotropical forms of this family. 



Lastly, the Camelidse of the Old World are represented in the 

 Bolivian and Peruvian Andes by the genus Auchenia, of which 

 there are usually held to be two distinct wild species, the Guanaco 

 (.4. guanaco) and the Vicugna (A. vicunia), the Lama and Alpaca ueing 

 generally considered to be domestic varieties derived from their stocks 

 respectively. 



The next following Order of Mammals — the Edentata of Cuvier — 

 forms one of the most characteristic features of Neotropical Zoology. 

 Of the two great divisions which make up the Order, one — the 

 Phyllophagous section, comprehending the single family of Sloths 

 (Bradypodidas) — is wholly peculiar to this region. Of the second or 

 Entomophagous division, two families, which contain the greater 

 number of the species, are likewise restricted to South America — 

 leaving only two types (Orycteropus and Manis) represented through- 

 out the whole of the Eastern Hemisphere. 



The subjoined table will show at a glance the general distribution 

 of the whole Order Edentata over the earth's smface : — 



1. 



Neotropical 

 Region. 



2. 

 Ne arctic 

 Region. 



3. 

 PALiE ARCTIC 



Region. 



4. 



JEthiopian 



Region. 



5. 



Lkmurian 

 Region. 



6. 

 Indian 

 Region. 



1. 



Australian 



Region. 



Bradypodidae 

 Dasypodidas 



Myrmecophagidaa 







Manidida? 

 Oryctoropodida? 





Manidida? 





The leaf-eating Sloths forming the family Bradypodidfe arc quite 

 as extraordinary in their habits as in their organization, and certainly 

 constitute one of the most outre groups in the whole class of Mammals. 

 Being so exclusively arboreal as, in a state of nature, never, perhaps, 

 to touch the ground during the whole period of their existence, the 

 Sloths are necessarily confined to the densely-wooded districts of 

 Southern and Central America, and in conjunction with othen&rboreal 

 vol, ii. 2V 



