CABASSOUS. 



31 



tips of which some species walk, while the soles of the hind feet are 

 placed flat upon the ground. The tongue is long, pointed and 

 capable of being extended. 



Armadillos are harmless, nocturnal, and omnivorous, provided with 

 numerous simple teeth that, excepting in one genus, are not shed. 

 They are capable of running with considerable swiftness, and when 

 frightened or attacked, they roll the body into a ball, presenting 

 nothing but the bony armor to their enemies. 



Pam. III. Dasypodidw. Armadillos. 



Subfam. I. Dasypodinee. 



Head narrow; snout long, narrow, obliquely truncate; pterygoids 

 meeting below nasal passage; ears long, ovate, erect, placed on 

 occiput, contiguous; bony carapace covering the elongate, narrow 

 body, having six to twelve movable rings on the center and sides; 

 tail long, tapering, the dermal scutes forming distinct rings. Front 

 feet with four toes, hind feet with five, the nails strong, curved, 

 pointed. 



11. Cabassons. 



8-8 



-o or = 32 or -?6. 



8 8 q 9 v O 



Cabassous McMurtrie, Cuv., Anim. King., i, 1831, p. 164. Type 



Dasypns unicinctus Linnaeus. 

 Xenurus, Wagl., Nat. Syst. Amph., 1830, p. 36. (nee Boie, Aves, 



1826.) 



Arizostus Glog., Hand-u. Hilfsb. Naturg. i, 1841, pp. xxn, 114. 

 Tatoua Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1865, p. 378. 



Intermediate bands, twelve, broader than long; fore feet with 

 five toes; claws large, strong; tail long, tuberculate. 



FIG. XII. CABASSOUS CENTRALIS. MILLER'S ARMADILLO. 



