Guide to the galleries of mammalia (mammalian, osteological, cetacean) in the Department of Zoology of the British Museum (Natural History).

British Museum (Natural History). Department of Zoology.

Date:: 1887

Credit: Guide to the galleries of mammalia (mammalian, osteological, cetacean) in the Department of Zoology of the British Museum (Natural History). Source: Wellcome Collection.

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$and Africa [Spalacidai), with short tails^ thick heavy bodies, and powerful digging claws. (4) The Gophers and Pouched Mice [Geomyidce), somewhat similar to the last, 'but provided with pouches in their cheeks, outside their mouths, often large enough to hold a walnut. (5) The Dipodidce (Case 30), consisting of the long-legged and long-tailed Jerboas of North Africa and Asia, specially modified for leaping lightly over a yielding sandy soil. The Jumping Hare of the Cape Colony [Pedetes capensis) is also a member of this family. The Hystricomoipha, or Porcupine section, contains the fol- lowing:—(1) The OctodontidcB (Case 31), with 17 or 18 genera, [Case 31.] nearly all confined to South America, of which the best known is the aquatic Coypu {Myopotamus coypu), v/hose habits are similar to those of the Water-Vole, and whose fur is thick and soft, and of considerable value. (2) The Porcupines [Hystricidce) (Cases 29 [Cases and 30), found both in the Old and New Worlds, are all covered 29and30.] with stout variegated spines, although in some of the species these are hidden in the long thick hair. The Porcupine of Southern Europe [Hystrix cristata) is now becoming extinct, but several species closely allied to it are still very common in India and the Malay Archipelago. They feed on fruit, bark, and roots, and live in burrows of their own construction, with the exception of the South-American Tree-Porcupines, which are wholly arboreal, and have long prehensile tails. (3) The Chinchillas {Chinchillidce) ^ celebrated for their beautiful soft fur. (4) The Agoutis and their allies (Dasyproctidce) ] and (5) the Cavies [Caviidcd) (Case 32), [Case32.] to which belong the little animals known to us as Guinea-pigs, and the great Capybara [Hydrochcerus capyhara), by far the largest of the Order. Its habits are somewhat similar to those of the Hippopotamus, it being thoroughly aquatic, and feeding on water- weeds, grass, and other vegetable substances. The last three families are all entirely restricted to South America. The second suborder of Rodents, distinguished by possessing [Cases two pairs of incisors in the upper jaw, consists only of the Hares 31and32.] and Rabbits [Lepus) and the Pikas [Lagomys), animals far less specialized for gnawing than the other Rodents, and showing, in some respects, the links by which the Rodents are related to other Mammals. Lepus (Cases 31 and 32, above) contains about 45 D$