T A B . XXXI.
J E R B O A C A P E N S I S .
C H A R A C T E R G E N E R I C U S .
Pedes antic! breviiTimi; poftici longiflimi.
C H A R A C T E R S P E C I F I C U S , &c.
Jerboa fiipra fpadlcea, fubtus albicans, palmis pentadaftylis, plantis tetradaftylis.
D i p u s c a f e r . GIVIEL. SYST. N A T . L I N . p . 1 5 9 .
G E N E R I C CHA R A C T E R .
For e legs very fhort; hind legs very long.
S P E C I F I C C HA R A C T E R .
Tawny-brown Jerboa, whitlili beneath, with the fore-feet pentada6lylous; the hind ones
tetradailylous.
THERE are fome particular quadrupeds which are diilinguifhed by the great difparity between
their fore and hind legs; the former being fo very ihort as fcarce to be ufed in walking, while
the latter are uncommonly long. Animals of this formation generally reft themfelves on the
hind legs, and fit ereft, in the manner of a fquirrcl, when feeding. T h e y alfo perform their
progreffive motion by leaping, inftead of nmning like other quadrupeds. T h e moft familiar
example of fuch kind of quadrupeds is the creature called the Jerboa, or Mus Jaculus of Linnaius,
which is common ir. Barbary, and many parts of Af r ica: but a much more extraordinary
inftance IS in the Kanguroo, a large quadruped, peculiar to the vaft iiland of New Holland,
which exceeds a iheep in fize, and is capable of leaping to the diftance of upwards of thirty
feet ; and is of fo ilirprifing a fwiftneis as to outftrip the fleeteft greyhounds. We r e it not for
a difference in the ftrufture and difpofition of the teeth in fome fpecies, all the long-legged
quadrupeds might be placed in the fame genus, but as the form of the teeth forbids this, it Is