PREVIOUS TO THE LAST GEOLOGICAL REVOLUTION. 107 



senting this species (which by the way is not original, but 

 borrowed from Ckisius, and very poor), is attached to the de- 

 scription of Tatu-peba {Dasypus gilvipes, 111.). This blunder 

 has caused Cuvier to refer Marcgraaf 's Tatu-peba to the one 

 we are considering ; an error which has even been introduced 

 into the system by subsequent French zoologists, by the 

 elevation of the Indian name into the systematic specific 

 appellation of the species ; so that by Desmarest it is styled 

 JDasypus peha ; by F. Cuvier, Tatusia peba ! Moreover, it 

 is identical with the Dasypus octocinctus of Linna3us ; with 

 Buffon's Cachica7ne, Tatu-ete, and Tatou a longue queue ; as 

 also with Azara's Tatu negro. Much less common are the 

 two next species,^ Dasypus gilvipes, 111. and Dasypus gymnu- 

 rus, 111. The first, as I have said, is called Tatu-peba by the 

 Brazilians, and is very well described by Marcgraaf, pa. 231. 

 It is the Dasypus sexcinctus and Das/octodecemcinctus of 

 Linnaeus ; Buflfon's Encoubert and Cirquinson ; and Azara's 

 Tatu-poyu. Illiger's name is a translation of the Indian one, 

 which signifies "the Tatu with the yellow foot ; " and should 

 be preferred to the later titles proposed by Desmarest, of Da- 

 sypus Encoubert, or Das. setosus of the Prince of Neuwied. 

 The other, Das. gymnurus, 111., is called by the Brazilians 

 *' Tatu de rabo molle ; " that is, the Tatu with the soft tail. 

 It is the Dasypus unicinctus of Linnaeus ; Buffon's Cabassou 

 propre ; and Azara's Tatu-ay. This Indian title has been 

 less happily advanced to the systematic specific name, in the 

 Das. Tatu-ay of Desmarest ; and Tatusia Tatu-ay of F. Cu- 

 vier. ^ The largest existing species of this family, Dasypus 

 Gigas, Cuv. (called by the Brazilians " Tatu canastra "), is 

 much rarer than the three preceding, and has indeed been 

 seen by few persons. I only know it from the description of 

 the Brazilians ; which is also the case with a fifth species, 

 called " Tatu-bola " by the Brazilians, {Dasypus tricinctus, 

 Linn. ; Tatu-apara, Marc. ; Tatu-matocco, Azara) ; which 

 does not occur in this district, but serves to complete the list 

 of the species of this family existing in the whole of Brazil. ^ 



^ Cuvier, in his ' Ossem. Foss.' and ' Regne Anim.' ascribes to his cabas- 

 sou, a tail provided with scattered scales; and applies to itUhe synonyms of 

 LinucEus, BufFon, and Azara. At the same time he describes, as a distinct 

 species, one with a naked tail, only armed with scales underneath, near the 

 end. How far such a specific distinction has any real foundation in na 

 ture, I dare not determine : I can only affirm that the species which occurs 

 here, has a tail entirely naked above, and more or less scaled underneath 

 for the whole of the hinder half: and as Azara gives a similar description 

 of the Paraguay species, his Tatu-ay, as well as the Tatu de rabo molle, 

 may be classed among the last, instead of the first two of these species. 



* Cuvier indeed speaks of a sixth species brought home by A. de St. Hi- 



