570 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxxi. 



Mammyrmecophagm. — Herrera, 1899, "Sinonimia vulgar y cien- 

 tifica de los principales Vertebrados Mexicanos," proposed as a modi- 

 fication of Linnsus' term Myriitecopfiaga. 



Falcifer.—RQhn^ 1900-/' type, .Myrmecophaga jubata Lmnpeus from 

 Brazil; proposed as a name for the Great Ant-eater under the erroneous 

 belief that the type of Myrinecoj)haga was tetradactyla and not 

 iridactyla.^ 



SPECIFIC NAMES OF THE GREAT ANT-EATERS. 



Tridactyla Linnaeus,'^ "Habitat in America meridionali." Type of 

 the genus Myrmecophaga Linnaeus by elimination/^ 



Juhata Linnaeus,^ "Habitat in Brasilia, Cap. b. spei.'' Type of 

 Falcifev Rehn (see above). It is antedated by tridactyla as a specific 

 term for the Brazilian Great Ant-eater. 



As no name is available for the Great Ant-eater of Central America, 

 it may be known as 



MYRMECOPHAGA CENTRALIS, new species. 



Type.—Xouwg adult skull, Cat. No. 15963 (no skin), U.S.N.M.; 

 collected at Pacuare, Costa Rica, June, 1876, by Jose C. Zeledon. 

 Original No. 86. 



Diagnostic characten^. — Like MyrmecoplKiga tridactyla, but median 

 anterior extension of frontal bones not produced much farther forward 

 than lateral anterior extensions of same bones (Plate XIV, figs. 1 and 2); 

 most anterior point of squamosal extending forward decidedly less than 

 half way between the middle of the root of the z^'gomatic process and 

 the most anterior point of the alisphenoid (see Plate XIV, fig. 3). 



In Myrmecophaga centralis the antero-inferior angle of the parietal 

 extends downward and inward so that it appears on the inferior sur- 

 face of the skull for a distance of 5 to 10 mm., the inferior portion 

 being separated from the lateral portion by a more or less evident 

 ridge, while in M. tridactyla scarcely any of the antero-inferior angle 

 of the parietal appears on the under side of the skull. Owing to the 

 forward extension of the squamosal in the Brazilian Ant-eater the 

 lateral portion of the alisphenoid is narrower behind than in front, 

 while in the Central American animal, owing to the downward exten- 

 sion of the antero-inferior angle of the parietal, the lateral portion of 

 the alisphenoid is narrower in front than behind. (See Plate XIV, figs. 

 3 and 4.) In J/, tridactyla the most anterior point of the squamosal is 

 about midway between the most anterior point of the alisphenoid and 



« American Naturalist, XXXIV, 1900, p. 576. 



^ Rehn, Thomas, and Allen. For references see foot note on p. 569. 

 ^■Systema Naturas 10th ed., I, 1758, p. 35. 



rf Thomas, American Naturalist, XXXV, 1901, ji. 14.3. Linnpeus' first reference, 

 "Tamandua-guacu, Marcgr. bras 225," permits the type locality to be fixed as Brazil. 

 «Systema Natun«, 12th ed., I, 1766, p. 52. 



