(or Carpincho) being the greatest of existing Rodents. The ears are well developed. The toes are commonly reduced, and the members of this family possess only a rudimentary tail. The hair though rough is not spiny. Other characters had best be deferred until the several genera are treated of. We shall begin with the giant of the family, the genus Hydrochoerus. This genus contains but a single species, H. capybara of South America. It reaches a length of some 4 or 5 feet. The ears are not large; the tail is completely absent. The fore-feet are four-toed, the hind-feet three-toed; the digits are webbed, though not to a very great degree, and the nails have the appearance of hoofs. There are fourteen dorsal vertebrae; the clavicle is absent. In the skull the paroccipital processes are of great length. The infra-orbital foramen is large. The most remarkable fact about the teeth is the great size of the posterior molar of the upper jaw; it has fourteen folds of enamel, more than all the anterior teeth possess collectively. The incisors are white and grooved in front. The measurements of the alimentary tract as given by Tullberg are: small intestine, 4350 mm.; caecum, 450 mm.; large intestine, 1500 mm.
Fig. 241.—Patagonian Cavy. Dolichotis patachonica. × 1⁄10.
The Capybara or Carpincho is largely aquatic in its habits. Their "favourite locality," writes Mr. Aplin,[1] "is a broad laguna
- ↑ "Field Notes on the Mammals of Uruguay," Proc. Zool. Soc. 1894, p. 297.
