GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. __________________________________/\__________________________________ / \ NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS. -----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------ | | | | | 1. 2. 3. 4 |-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- -- | | | | | The Cavies and Agoutis were placed in distinct families by Mr. Waterhouse, in which he is followed by Professor Carus, but they have been united by Professor Lilljeborg, and without pretending to decide which classification is the more correct I follow the latter, because there is a striking external resemblance between the two groups, and they have an identical distribution in the Neotropical region, and with one exception are all found east of the Andes. _Dasyprocta_ (9 sp.), the agouti, ranges from Mexico to Paraguay, one species inhabiting the small West Indian islands of St. Vincent, Lucia, and Grenada; _Cælogenys_ (2 sp.), the paca, is found from Guatemala to Paraguay, and a second species (somewhat doubtful) in Eastern Peru; _Hydrochoerus_ (1 sp.), the capybara inhabits the banks of rivers from Guayana to La Plata; _Cavia_ (9 sp.), the guinea-pigs, Brazil to the Straits of Magellan, and one species west of the Andes at Yça Peru; _Kerodon_ (6 sp.), Brazil and Peru to Magellan; _Dolichotis_ (1 sp,), the Patagonian cavy, from Mendoza to 48° 30' south latitude, on sterile plains. _Extinct Caviidæ._--_Hydrochoerus_, _Cælogenys_, _Dasyprocta_, and _Kerodon_, have occurred abundantly in the caves of Brazil, and the last-named genus in the Pliocene of La Plata. _Hydrochoerus_ has been found in the Post-Pliocene deposits of South Carolina. _Cavia_ and _Dasyprocta_ are said to have been found in the Miocene of Switzerland and France. No well-marked extinct genera of this family have been recorded. If the determination of the above-mentioned fossil species of _Cavia_ and _Dasyprocta_ are correct, it would show that this now {242}exclusively South American family is really derived from Europe, where it has long been extinct. FAMILY 69.--LAGOMYIDÆ. (1 Genus, 11 Species.)