In the New World pouched rats (Geomyidae) the pouches open externally on the cheeks.
The first class includes the isabelline bear, badger, pole-cat, ermine, roe and fallow deer, wild ass, Syrian squirrel, pouched marmoset, gerbill and leopard.
The various species of rapacious animals are disappearing, together with the colonies of marmots; the insectivores are also becoming scarce in consequence of the destruction of insects; while vermin, such as the suslik, or pouched marmot (Spermophilus), and the destructive insects which are a scourge to agriculture, become a real plague.
In hares and pacas the inside of the cheeks is hairy; and in some species, pouched rats and hamsters, there are large internal cheek-pouches lined with hair, which open near the angles of the mouth and extend backwards behind the ears.
The American pouched rats, or pocket-gophers, constitute the third section, Geomyoidea, with the single family Geomyidae.
