of course apply to the Andesian _T. roulini_, which inhabits the cordillera of Ecuador and Colombia. The distribution of existing Tapirs is, as is so often the case, restricted when compared with that of their extinct congeners and allies. In Europe the remains of the genus _Tapirus_ are abundant from Pliocene strata, and its remains are there known from as far back as the Miocene. The genus is thus one of the very oldest forms of Mammalia at present inhabiting the earth. [Illustration] FIG. 129.--Malayan Tapir. _Tapirus indicus_, young. x 1/10. (From _Nature_.) The Malayan Tapir is to be distinguished from the American (_T. terrestris_--the other species have not been dissected) by the greater development of the valvulae conniventes in the intestine, the absence of a moderator band in the heart, and the less elongated caecum, which is sacculated by only three bands, there being four in _T. terrestris_.[164] The animal frequents the most retired spots among the hill woods, by which habit it seems {253} largely to escape the Tiger, its most formidable foe in those regions of the world. Its quickness of senses enables it also to slip away with rapidity. It can proceed at a great pace when disturbed, and can readily push its way through obstacles. The young animal, like that of the American species, is dark brown with yellowish spots. It is stated by Mr. H. N. Ridley that the young animal lies during the hot part of the day under bushes, in which situation "its coat is so exactly like a patch of ground flecked with sunlight that it is quite invisible." It is interesting to note that here, as with some other animals, it is the young that are especially protected by such mechanisms. Moreover, some of the spots are round and some are more elongated, so that the resemblance to spots of sunlight which come in a direct and in a slanting direction is greatly increased. Even the colours of the adult are not so conspicuous when it is in its native haunts as might be supposed. The breaking up of the ground colour into tracts of two different colours prevent it from striking the eye so plainly as if it were of one colour throughout. "When lying down during the day it exactly resembles a grey boulder, and as it often lives near the rocky streams of the hill jungles, it is really nearly as invisible then as it was when it was speckled."[165]