Descriptions of East Asiatic Mammals 113 
plates, regularly arranged to overlap one another like the shin- 
gles on a roof; they are modified from hairs. 
Pangolins (a corruption of the Malay word "Tanjiling") are 
believed to be exceedingly remote relatives of the South Ameri- 
can sloths, anteaters, and armadillos, from which, however, 
they differ in important ways. They have no collar bones; the 
joints of the hinder part of the spine have special types of 
articulation; the single pair of nipples lies behind the armpits; 
the sexual organs also are very different. The resemblances to 
anteaters and armadillos seen in the large digging claws, the 
lack of teeth, and the long, sticky, extensible tongue, possibly 
indicate not so much real relationship as similarity of adapta- 
tions to diets of termites (white ants) and other insects. 
Three subfamilies of the recent Manidse are currently recog- 
nized, of which two, the Smutsiinae and the Uromaninae, are 
African, and the third, the Maninae, containing the most typi- 
cal of the Pangolins, is Asiatic. The three subfamilies, taken 
together, contain but a half dozen genera. The Asiatic Pango- 
lins are distinguished by having a single median row of scales 
from the nape to the end of the tail, in contrast to the sudden 
change to a double row in the tail in the case of the African 
Pangolins ; and further, by the hinder part of the "breastbone" 
forking into two delicate branches that connect with the hind- 
most ribs. The Pangolins of Asia include three fairly well- 
marked genera, the True or Chinese Pangolin, Mams, the Malay 
Pangolin, Paramanis, and the Indian Pangolin, Phatages. The 
first has a small but distinct flap-like outer ear ; the other two 
have only a thickened ridge to represent the outer ear. On the 
other hand, the Chinese and Malay Pangolins have each a dis- 
tinct, non-scaly pad of skin beneath the tip of the tail, while 
the Indian Pangolin bears scales there. 
Pangolins walk on the knuckles of their fore feet, with the 
sharp, powerful claws bent upward against the palms and wrists ; 
their hind feet are set down flat. They have been known to bur- 
