130 VEKTEBRATA: MAMMALIA. 



The Pangolins or Scaly Anteaters or Manidae of the 

 Eastern hemisphere, are edentates which are covered with 

 plates or scales arranged like tiles on a roof. 



The edentates known as Sloths or Brady podidse of South 

 America are formed for living upon trees. They are of 

 the size of the domestic cat or larger, and their forward 

 limbs are very long, their mammae pectoral, tail wanting 

 or very short, and their hair long and coarse. With their 

 long arms and long claws, they cling firmly around the 

 branches of trees, and they almost always keep on the 

 under side of the branch. In this position they move 

 and repose in perfect security. On the ground they move 

 awkwardly and with difficulty. 



Sloth-like edentates, as the Megatherium, Mylodon, etc., 

 have been found fossil, and of the most enormous dimen- 

 sions, in the superficial deposits of South America. The 

 skeleton of the Megatherium is eighteen feet long, and 

 the thigh bone is about three times as thick as that of an 

 Elephant ! This animal was a huge ground Sloth. These 

 and the living Sloths belong to the sub-order of TAEDI- 

 GEADA. 



None of the Edentates are more remarkable than the 



t 



Fir;. 149. 



Nine-banded Armadillo, Dasyptis iiovem-cinctus, Lirmreus. 



Armadillos or Dasypodidse which are at once distinguish- 

 ed from all other mammals by their bony armor, or os- 

 sified exo-skeleton, as it is called. This armor is not a 



