Biomedical Ephemera, or: A Frog for Your Boils

capntrips:

biomedicalephemera:

Rodentia. Capybaras are the largest extant rodents, and live throughout the forested and swampy parts of South America. They love water, and the name “capybara” comes from the Paraguayan Guarani word Kapiÿva, meaning “Master of the Grasses”. 

The Handy Natural History. Ernest Protheroe, 1910.

 Rabbits/hares are no longer considered to be rodents, they are now considered lagomorphs.

Very good point. I meant to bring that up when I saw the plate only labeled as “Rodentia”, but got caught up in the capybara being the grass-master. Lagomorphs were considered to be a superfamily of the Rodentia order since ~1855 (defined by Brandt), but since the early 20th century, have been considered an order of their own.

Fun fact: one of the primary differentiations between rodents and lagomorphs is that rodents have a baculum (penis bone), while lagomorphs do not.

capntrips:

biomedicalephemera:

Rodentia. Capybaras are the largest extant rodents, and live throughout the forested and swampy parts of South America. They love water, and the name “capybara” comes from the Paraguayan Guarani word Kapiÿva, meaning “Master of the Grasses”. 

The Handy Natural History. Ernest Protheroe, 1910.

 Rabbits/hares are no longer considered to be rodents, they are now considered lagomorphs.

Very good point. I meant to bring that up when I saw the plate only labeled as “Rodentia”, but got caught up in the capybara being the grass-master. Lagomorphs were considered to be a superfamily of the Rodentia order since ~1855 (defined by Brandt), but since the early 20th century, have been considered an order of their own.

Fun fact: one of the primary differentiations between rodents and lagomorphs is that rodents have a baculum (penis bone), while lagomorphs do not.