VERTEBRATES : MAMMALS. 



Fig. 66. 



in the bending of the body. One large shield covers the 

 head, another the shoulders, and another the rump, and 

 between the two last there are several parallel movable 

 bands of the same material. The tail in some cases is 

 covered with successive rings, and in others, as the legs, 

 with mere horny tubercles. All this armor is attached to 

 the skin of the body ; and it is made up of numerous many- 

 sided plates placed together as in inlaid work. The Ar- 

 madillos have a pointed muzzle, slightly extensible tongue, 

 and powerful claws. They inhabit the warm and hot 

 parts of America, dig burrows, and live upon vegetables, 

 insects, and worms. The Genus Dasypus, as limited by 

 Linnaeus, included all the species, but they are now dis- 

 tributed among several genera. 



The Nine -banded 

 Armadillo, D. novcm- 

 cinctus, Linn., of Tex- 

 as to Paraguay, is 

 eighteen inches long 

 to the tail, which is 

 about eight inches, 

 and the body has nine 

 bands between the shield over the shoulders and that 

 over the rump. Other species have respectively three, 

 six, seven, and twelve intermediate bands. 



The Giant Armadillo, D. gigas, Cuv., is about three 

 feet long without the tail, and has twelve or thirteen in- 

 termediate bands. 



The Genus Clamyplwrus includes C. tmncatus, Harlan, 

 of Chili, which is six inches long, and has the back only 

 covered with a suit of transverse plates, and these are 

 attached to the body only along the spine. The body 

 is truncated behind. 



The Glyptodon is a fossil Armadillo, found in South 

 America, whose shield is compared to a huge cask, be- 



Nine-banded Armadillo, D. novem-cinctus, Linn. 



