162 MAMMALIA. 



discovered in America^ one of which, the MEGATHEEiuMy 

 Cuv. Oss. Foss. torn, v, parti, p. 174, has a head very similar to 

 that of the Sloths, but deficient as to canini, and approaching 

 in other parts of the skeleton, partly to the Sloths, and partly 

 to the Ant-eaters. It is twelve feet long, and six or seven 

 high. The other, the Megalonyx, lb. p. 160, is rather 

 smaller, and the toes are the only parts of it that are well 

 known, but they strongly resemble those of the preceding. 

 The second tribe comprehends the 



EDENTATA ORDINARIA. 



Or the Ordinary Edentata with a pointed muzzle. Some 

 of them still have cheek teeth. They form two genera. 



Dasypus, Lin. 



The Armadillos(l) are very remarkable among the Mammalia, by the 

 scaly and hard shell formed of compartments resembling little paving 

 stones, which covers their head and body, and frequently their tail. 

 This substance forms one shield over the forehead, a second very 

 large and convex over the shoulders, a third on the croup similar to 

 the second, and between the two latter several parallel and movable 

 bands, which allow the body to bend. The tail is sometimes fur- 

 nished with successive rings, and at others, like the legs, merely 

 with tubercles. These animals have large ears, and sometimes four, 

 and at others five great nails before, but always five behind. The 

 muzzle is pointed, the grinders are cylindrical, seven or eight in 

 number throughout, separated from each other, and without enamel 

 on the inside. The tongue is smooth, and but slightly extensible, 

 and there are a few scattered hairs between their scales, or on those 

 parts of the body not covered by the shell. They dig burrows, and 

 live partly on vegetables, and partly on insects and dead bodies; 

 their stomach is simple, and there is no caecum. They all belong 

 to the hot, or at least to the temperate parts of America. 



They may be divided into subgenera from considerations drawn 

 from the structure of their fore feet and the number of their teeth. 

 Most of them have only four toes to the anterior feet, the two mid- 

 dle ones of which are the longest. Of this number is the 



(1) Tatou is their Brazilian name. The Spaniards called them .^/^wcrfiV/o, from 

 their armour; the Portuguese, Encuberto, for the same reason. They are also called 

 quirquincho. Dasypus (hairy feet) was one of the Grecian appellatives of the 

 Hare or Rabbit. 



