. Ancient civilizations of Mexico and Central America. Indians of Mexico; Indians of Central America. 20 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA. Fig. 3. Yucatan Deer caught in a Snare. From the Mayan Codex, Tro- Cortesianus. coral reef which was lifted above the sea by some natural agency. This limestone gets older and more solid as we approach the base of the peninsula but at best is rather porous and coarse-grained. The fauna and flora present great variation. In the moist lowlands the monkeys play in the tree tops and the jaguar lies in wait for its prey. Alligators and croco- diles infest the rivers a
. Ancient civilizations of Mexico and Central America. Indians of Mexico; Indians of Central America. 20 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA. Fig. 3. Yucatan Deer caught in a Snare. From the Mayan Codex, Tro- Cortesianus. coral reef which was lifted above the sea by some natural agency. This limestone gets older and more solid as we approach the base of the peninsula but at best is rather porous and coarse-grained. The fauna and flora present great variation. In the moist lowlands the monkeys play in the tree tops and the jaguar lies in wait for its prey. Alligators and croco- diles infest the rivers and swamps. Two small species of deer and the ocellated turkey are important items in the meat supply of Yucatan, that includes also the iguana, the peccary, and various large ro- dents. The tapir and mana- tee are the largest animals of the lowlands but neither seems to have been of great significance to the natives. Bats are frequently represented in the ancient art and a bat demon appears in sev- eral myths. Upon the highlands of Mexico the Toltecan deer is still hunted, together with the wild turkey that is the parent of our domestic birds. The turkey was, in fact, domesticated by the Mexican tribes. It probably occurred southward over the Guatemalan highlands, but is now extinct in this latter region. In the south- ern part of Central America the place of the turkey as an item of diet is taken by the curassow, a yellow-crested bird with black plum-. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Spinden, Herbert Joseph, 1879-1967. New York : American Museum of Natural History
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