The habit of eating great quantities of food, which distends the
digestive organs, has caused the bodies of herbivorous quadrupeds to
become large, as seen in the elephant, the rhinoceros, oxen, horses, and
buffaloes. The habit of standing for a long time on their feet has
caused some animals to develop hard, thick hoofs. Herbivorous animals,
that inhabit countries where they are constantly subjected to attack, as
deer and antelopes for example, are forced to escape by rapid flight,
and in consequence their bodies have become slenderer and their legs
thinner. The horns, antlers, and protuberances that many of these
animals possess are the results of their butting each other when
angered.
“The long neck and the form of the giraffe offer a curious case. We know
that the giraffe is the tallest of all animals. It inhabits the centre
of Africa, living in those localities where the earth is nearly always
dry and without herbage. It is obliged to browse on the foliage of
trees, and this leads to its stretching continually upwards. As a result
of this habit, carried on for a long time, in all the individuals of the
race, the anterior limbs have become longer than the posterior, and its
neck has also lengthened, so that the giraffe without rising on its
hind-legs stretches up its neck and can reach to the height of six
metres.”
The curved claws of the carnivora have arisen from the necessity of
grasping their prey. The power of retracting the claws has also been
acquired by the effort to draw them in when running over hard ground.
The abdominal pouch of the kangaroo, in which the young are carried,
opens anteriorly, and this has led to the animal standing erect so that
its young are not injured. In consequence, the fore-legs have become
shorter through disuse, and the hind-legs have become stronger through
use. The tail, which is also used as a support, has become enormously
thick at its base.
The sloth has been compelled to seek refuge in the trees, and has taken
up its abode permanently there, feeding on leaves. Its movements are
limited to those involved in crawling along the limbs in order to reach
the leaves. After feeding it remains inactive and sluggish, these habits
being provoked by the heat of the climate. The results of its mode of
life have been to cause the arms to become elongated due to the habit of
the sloth of grasping the limbs of the tree; the claws of the fingers
and toes have also become long and hooked in order to retain their hold.
The digits that do not make any individual movements have lost the power
to do so, and have become fused, and can only be bent in and
straightened out. The thighs, being bent out to clasp the larger
branches, have caused the pelvis to widen, and, in consequence, the
cotyloid cavities have become directed backward. Many of the bones of
the skeleton have become fused, as a result of the immobility of the
animal.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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