. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. FAMILY XIV.—DASYPKOCTID^ (AGOUTIS). In the Agoutis we ha^'e tlie first of three more or less pig-lilie families, furnished with hoof-iike i on the toes, all the members of which are inhabitants of South America. The Agoutis especially maj be compared to small slender-limbed Pigs, but they beai a still closer resemblance in external form to the little Musk Deei The Dasyproctidse have the incisors long; the molars, which aie at first rootless, and afterwards close up, have enamel t Ills fiom both surfaces; the clavicles are iiidimentary ; th
. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. FAMILY XIV.—DASYPKOCTID^ (AGOUTIS). In the Agoutis we ha^'e tlie first of three more or less pig-lilie families, furnished with hoof-iike i on the toes, all the members of which are inhabitants of South America. The Agoutis especially maj be compared to small slender-limbed Pigs, but they beai a still closer resemblance in external form to the little Musk Deei The Dasyproctidse have the incisors long; the molars, which aie at first rootless, and afterwards close up, have enamel t Ills fiom both surfaces; the clavicles are iiidimentary ; the <^^|^-B_-'«!uJ::a,-^^*S^\ijf^/ ||| |,^j jip entire ; the ears shoi-t; the tail short and naked, or ^^ ijinte ludimentary; and the fore feet have five toes. —^^" -__ _rs Of these animals eight or nine species are known. They inhabit South America, from Mexico southwards to Paraguay and Bolivia, and some of them also occur in the larger West Indian Islands. They frequent the forest region, and especially haunt the banks of rivers. The Agouti {Dasyprocta aguti), the most abundant and best know n species, is found chiefly in Guiana, Brazil, and eastern Peiu, where it is to befoimd plentifully in the primeval forests. Like the other true Agoutis, it has only three toes moderate size and rounded; its form compact, and supported coarse and harsh, and rudimentary ; and the hair of its back on t!ie hind foot ; ".ts ears a upon slender limbs; its tail longer towards the liindei parts, which thus obtiin a somewhat truncated appear ance. Its general coloui is olive brown, produced by a mixture of black and yellow; but the long haiis covering the hinder poition of the back are usually of an orange colour, and the middle line of the abdomen is whitish or yellow. This animal is from eighteen t( twenty inches long. Although inhabiting tin forests, the Agouti is nc t iinfrequently seen on the neighbouring gi'assy plams, but its residence is among the trees, in the hollows of
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