MAMMALS. 



383 



SUB-ORDER 3. VERMILINGUIA. 



Body hairy ; skull very long ; no teeth ; tongue very long and mobile ; 

 tail elongate ; hind feet five-toed ; placenta deciduate, dome-like or dis- 

 coidal. The ant-eaters form the family MYRMECOPHAGID^E, all of which 

 live in tropical America, where they feed upon ants and other insects ; a few 

 are arboreal. Myrmecophaga jitbata, the great ant-eater, five feet long, lacks 

 a claw on the fifth fore toe. In Cyclotura only digits 2 and 3 are clawed. 

 Fossils (Scotceops), supposed to belong to this sub-order but with two 

 molar teeth, occur in the Patagonian eocene. 



SUB-ORDER 4. TARDIGRADA. 



Body haired ; head short and rounded ; molars ^ or 4. The BRADYPO- 



4 or 3 



DID.E, or sloths, have cylindrical teeth ; short, weak tail ; long, slender 

 limbs ; digits armed with long, strong claws ; and deciduate, dome-like pla- 

 centa with numerous discoidal lobes. Bradypits, the three-toed sloths ; 

 Cholaptts, the two-toed sloths. Both genera have the hind feet three-toed, 

 and are noticeable for the number of cervical vertebras (p. 355). They are 

 arboreal, and live almost entirely in the trees. Entelops from the eocene of 

 Patagonia. The extinct MEGATHERIIDJt includes giant edentates from the 

 pleistocene of both Americas. They had prismatic teeth of peculiar struc- 

 ture ; large, long tails and stout limbs ; feet 3-5 toed. Megatherium from 

 South America, and one doubtful species from the U. S. The largest species 

 equalled an elephant in size. Megalonyx, first described by Thomas Jeffer- 

 son, and Mylodon ranged north to Pennsylvania. Zamicrus, Patagonian 

 eocene. There is some evidence that a species of Mylodon (Neomylodon) 

 still persists in Patagonia. 



SUB-ORDER 5. LORICATA. 



8 to 10 

 Body with armor of bony plates ; teeth prismatic, usually 



GLYPTODONTID.E ; trunk plates united into a solid carapace, with other plates 

 on the tail ; dorsal vertebrae fused to a continuous tube. Tertiary and 

 pleistocene of South America and north to U. S. Gfyptodon, Hoplophorus, 

 Paroctlius. These resembled turtles in appearance. One species 12 feet 

 long. DASYPODID^E, dermal armor in three or more movable transverse 

 rows, vertebras free. These armadillos first appear in the Patagonian eocene, 

 and continue until the present. The living species are small, nocturnal, car- 



Q 



nivorous forms. Chlamydophorus ; teeth ; armor of about 20 trans- 



8 to 9 



verse bands ; body truncate behind. Dasypns ; teeth -2 ; armor of 



10 to 9 



two shields upon scapular and pelvic regions, with six or seven bands be- 

 tween. Xolypentes with three bands ; Xennrns with twelve or thirteen. 



Tatusia has Z teeth, all except the last preceded by milk dentition ; 

 8 to 7 



