Key to t C] 
The following key ie designed to facilitate the identification of the larger species 
of mammals occurring in Guatemala, It consists of a series of paired statements which oppose 
each other, and only one of a pair can apply to any given mammal, It should be used in the 
following manner: Begin with the first pair of statements, If the first statement agrees 
with the specimen in hand, the name at the end of the statement is the name of the mammal, 
If the first stetement does not fit, go on to the second of the apir. This should be appli- 
cable and the (2) at the end of the statement indicates that the next pair of statements, No, 
2, should be tried, This pair leads either to pairs three or four, depending upon which is 
true of the mammal being keyed. SBy thus following through the key until the statement which 
fits the specimen in hand ends in a name, the specimen can be identified. The specimen may 
be identified in the first two or three pairs of statements, or it may be at the end of the 
key, No, 41, Any large mammal of Guatemala can be identified by this key, and then veference 
to the foregoing catalog will give a more complete description with range, habits, eto, of 
the mammal inqestion., For example, suppose a mammal has been killed which has four legs, 
a hairy body, a long hairy tail, only three claws on the front feet, a long snout, and a 
peculiar cream and black coloration, Begin at No. 1 in the key. The first statement does 
not fit, but the second does, since the animal has four legs. At the end of this statement 
are instructions to go on to the pair of statements No, 2. Again the second statement of the 
pair is true, The body is covered with hair, and there is no shell. Instructions at the 
end of the statement say to skip the third pair of statements and go on to No. 4 At No, 4 
the firet statement is false, The animal has a long tail, agreeing with the second of the 
pair, This leads to the pair of statements No, 15; all the intervening statements are skipped, 
Since the animal is hairy, the first statement of No. 15 does not apply, but the second does, 
leading to No, 16, which in turn leads to No, 19, for the tail is hairy. The first statement 
of the nineteenth pair obviously is true of the animal being checked, since it had three 
claws on the forefeet, and an unusually long snout, This leads to No, 20, and the unknown 
Mammal is obviously Tamandua tetradactyla, the three-toed anteater, since the first of the 
pair of statements fits perfectly, and the second does not apply at all, In the same manner, 
any large Guatemalan mammal can be identified, 
1. Possessing only two legs, and these in the form of flippers--Yrichecmms manatus. Posses- 
sing four legs (2). 
2. Body covered with an armor-like shell (3). Body covered with hair, spines, or naked; but 
without shell (4). 
3. Tail covered with armor plates-~Dasypus povemcinctus. Tail naked, not covered with armor 
'  - plates-~Cabassous centralis. 
4, Tail short, less than one-fourth of total length (5). Tail longer, more than one-fourth 
of total length (15). 
5. Size very large; snout long; vody scantily haired--Tapirelle bairdii. Size no larger 
than deer: snout not long, body hairy (6), 
6, Feet with hooves (7). Feet with claws, not hoofed (30), 
7. Short legged; pig-like (8). Long legged; deer-like (9), 
8, Coloration grayish; white collar around neck--Yayasa tajacu. Coloration reddish black; 
lips white; no collar——Jayassy pecari. 
9. Iarge; darker above than below; antlers curved—-Qdocoileus virginianus. Small; dark 
throughout; antlers a simple spike—Mazama gartorii. 
10. Underparts dark (11). Underparte white (13). 
1i, See eis) black; upperparte gray-Gpigson canaster. Underparts same as upperparts; not 
black (12), 
12, Coloration reddish with white spots on sg Sa Coloration brownish with- 
out white spote-—Dasyprocts punctata. 
160 
