America is the main home of this family of rodents, though there are several representatives in Africa. Their name is due to the fact that they have four molar teeth on each side of the jaw. The best-known species is the Coypu, or Nutria, of South America, an aquatic, fur-bearing animal. It is very plentiful in the large rivers of that continent, where its fur is a valuable commodity for export. When swimming, the female coypu carries its young on its back. The coypu is usually 20 inches long, with a tail two-thirds of the length of its head and body. The general colour is brown above and brownish yellow below. Coypus live in pairs in holes in the river-banks. In the Chonos Archipelago they frequent the seashore, and burrow near the beach.
The Hutia, another large octodont, is found in the West Indies. There are two species, both partly arboreal. The Tuco-tucos, burrowing octodonts of the pampas and the far south of the American Continent, are rat-like animals, with large claws and very small eyes and ears.
The Porcupines.
These animals are either tree-climbers or ground-dwellers. The former are found in South America, though one, the Canadian Porcupine, is found in the North; the latter are European and Asiatic. In Africa they are also common. The Canadian porcupine passes nearly all its life in trees, feeding on the leaves; but it has not a prehensile tail. The Common Porcupine is abundant in Italy (where it is eaten by man), Greece, Spain, and Africa. It lives in burrows or among rocks. In India a very similar species is found. The head and shoulders of these ground-porcupines are not protected by the larger sharp spines which guard the rest of their bodies.
Photo by York & Son] [Notting Hill.
AGUTIS.
The agutis are also a South American group, found both in the forests and on the plains.
The tree-porcupines of the forests of Central America have long prehensile tails, and are very lightly built. The quills are short, the head rounded, and the appearance very different from that of the European or African species. The common porcupine of Europe and North Africa measures about 28 inches in length from the nose to the root of the tail. The head, neck, and shoulders are covered with short spines and hairs, and the shoulders and back by a crest of long spines, varying from 12 to 15 inches in length. The tail also carries spines.
