The Tetrapoda: Mammals 635 



The New World monkeys have long prehensile tails and are mainly 

 arboreal in habit. They include such well-known animals as the spider 

 monkey, Ateles, and the howler monkey, Aloiiatta. The Old World 

 primates are much more diverse, including such groups as the large- 

 eyed tarsiers, the lemurs, the rhesus monkey and the baboons. Most 

 highly developed of the Old World forms are the anthropoid apes 

 which include the gorilla of Africa, the chimpanzee also of Africa, 

 the gibbons of southeast Asia, and the orangutan from the East Indies. 

 Because of their kinship with man, many studies have been made of 

 their mental capacities. The chimpanzee because of its docility and 

 general cooperativeness has been investigated more completely than 

 any other. 



Of course, the most successful member of this order is man himself 

 who has spread throughout the globe and now looks longingly for new 

 planets to conquer. 



Order Pholidota. — This small order includes the scaly anteaters 

 or pangolins. Species are found in Africa, Asia, and the East Indies. 

 The entire upper part of the animal's body is covered with hard, over- 

 lapping scales. The forelimbs have strong claws which are used for 

 d'§gi"g i"to the nests of termites and ants for food. The jaws are 

 without teeth. 



Order Edentata. — These New World forms are characterized by 

 the fact that their teeth are reduced to molars which are in the anterior 

 part of the jaws. There are three families in this order. One in- 

 cludes the strange, highly modified anteaters of tropical America. They 

 have enormously elongated snouts and long slender protrusible tongues 

 for gathering in the ants from the nests. The second group includes 

 the sloths, those very strange animals which spend their lives hanging 

 by their claws from branches. Their food consists of fruits, leaves, and 

 buds. Lastly included in this order are the unusual armadillos charac- 

 terized by their horny protective shell arranged in plates on the back. 

 Species of armadillo are found in our southern states. 



Order Lagomorpha. — At one time, the hares and rabbits were 

 considered to be rodents because of their rodentlike teeth; however, 

 their skeletal structure is entirely dififerent from that of the rodents, 

 and they can scarcely be considered to be related to them. 



The common cottontail, Sylvilagus fioridanus, is found throughout 

 eastern United States. They are chiefly nocturnal in habit, usually 



