544 EDENTATA. 



Fam. 1. Myrmecophagidae. Aiiteaters, hairy, edentvilous, without 

 tooth-germs ; with long snouts, long protrusible tongues, and enor- 

 mous submaxillary salivary glands. The clavicles are reduced. The 

 anterior margin of the scapula is produced over the coraco-scapula notch 

 to meet the coracoid. In the manus the tliird digit is greatly developed 

 and provided ^vith a strong claw ; the other digits are reduced or suppressed. 

 The pes has four or five subequal digits ^vith claws. The cerebrum 

 is convoluted and has a large corp\is callosum and anterior commissure. 

 Uterus simple. Confined to the neotropical region. JMyrmecophaga L., 

 skull elongated with rostrum composed of mesethmoid, vomer, max- 

 illae, nasals ; premaxillae small tuid confined to the margin of the terminal 

 nares ; zygomatic arch incomplete ; pterygoid with palatal plates ; mandible 

 slender without coronoid. Vertebrae, C7, Dlo-16, L 2-3, S6, C31. 

 Sternal articulation of the ribs double, ilanus and pes with 5 digits. 

 The animal walks on the end of digit 5 and on the dorsal sides of digits 



3 and 4 of its manus and on the sole of its pes. Stomach with thin-walled 

 cardiac portion, and a thick-walled gizzard-Uke pyloric ; ilio-cohc valve 

 absent, caecum short. Two pectoral mammae ; produces one at a birth. 

 One species, M. iuhata L. the great anteater, ant-bear, body 4 feet in 

 lengtli and 2 feet in height at shoulder ; with long fur ; eats termites 

 which it obtains with its long tongue, having broken into the ant-heap 

 with its strong claws ; terrestrial ; trop. S. and C. Amer. Tamandua 

 Gray, hke the last, but smaller, with shorter fur, and tail tapering and 

 scaly at the end ; head less elongated, pter^^goid with palatal plates. 

 Vertebrae, C7, D17, L2, S5, C37. ]\Ianus with 5 dijats, the fifth being 

 concealed in the sldn, pes with 5 digits ; arboreal, forests of S. and C. 

 Amer., 3 species. Cycloturus Gray, smaller than the last, about the 

 size of a rat, head short, pterj-goid without palatal plates ; vertebrae 

 07, D16, L2, S4, C40. Manus with two complete digits (2 and 3), digit 



4 with one nailless phalanx, digits 1 and 5 with metacarpal only ; in the 

 pes, the hallux is concealed and has one phalanx, digits 2—5 are sub- 

 equal ; ribs broad, overlapping ; clavicle complete ; stomach without 

 gizzard-hke portion, colon with 2 small caeca ; arboreal, one 

 species S. and C. Amer. 



Fam. 2. Bradypodidae (Tardigrada). Sloths, vegetable-feeders and 

 arboreal, with long coarse hair, coloured green by a parasitic alga ; with 

 rounded head, anteriorly directed eyes, long anterior hmbs, short tail, 

 and pectoral mammae. With 5 pairs of teeth in the upper and 4 pairs 

 in the lower jaw, consisting of vaso-dentine covered with cement ; without 

 succession. Long bones without medullary ca\'ities. Zj'gomatic arch 

 incomplete with downwardly directed process (Fig. 284) ; lower jaw with 

 coronoid ; cervical vertebrae unusual in number, dorsals often very 

 numerous. The anterior border of the scapula coalesces with the cora- 

 coid, and the acromion is united by cartilage with the coracoid ; cla\iicles 

 present ; scaphoid and trapezium imited ; digits never more than 3, with 

 long cur\^ed claws. Stomach complicated, with several chambers ; 

 caecum absent ; uteriis simple and globular, di\-ided by longitudinal 

 partition ; testes placed as in iI\Tmecophagidae ; penis minute, crura 

 not directly attached to ischia. The sloths are exclusively arboreal ; 

 they use the curved claws at the end of the two or three closely connected 

 digits for hanging on to branches during their slow movements ; on the 

 ground they move very awkwardly ; forests of S. Amer. Bradypus L. 

 Three-toed sloths, the ai ; no tooth projecting bej"ond the rest ; vertebrae 



