390 



MYEMECOPHAGID.E. 



Fam. 7. MYRMECOPHAGID^. 



Body covered witli hair. Head conical, elongate ; mouth small. 

 Teeth none. 



Ci/i u A Edentata genuina, Cuvier, Oss. Foss. v. p. 97. 



l/^'^tiAc Myrmecopliagidcie, Turner, I. c. p. 217 ; Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, p. 383. 



A / .*< MjTniecophagina, Gray, Cat. Mamm. B. M. p. 190. 



l^i^"^ /"a V Myrmeeopbaga, Linn. S. J^. i. p. 52, 



y / Jjipodouta, Nitzsch. 



/ Vermilingua, III. Prodr. 



The ribs of the animals of this family are flat and more or less 

 dilated on the outer side ; they are most dilated in the Cyclofhuri, 

 where they are expanded nearly their whole length, and so much so 

 that they overlap each other, and form a complete armour to the 

 thoracic viscera. The figure given by Rapp agrees with the skele- 

 tons in the British Museum. The ribs of the skeleton of Myrme- 

 copMcja figured by Cuvier (Oss. Foss. v. t. 9) and Rapp (Edentata, 

 t. 6) are only dilated on the middle of the outer side, and not there 

 to such an extent as in the above-named genus. 



Synojjsis of the Genera. 

 * Terrestrial. Tail bristly. Teeth 5. 



1. Mtrmecophaga. Tail covered with long hair. 



** Arboreal. Tail conical, prehensile. 



2. Tamandua. Teeth ^ ; covered with short hair. 



3. Cyclothurtis. Teeth | ; covered with silky hair. 



a. Terrestrial. Tail bristly ; loalking on side of feet, with elates curved up. 

 1. MYEMECOPHAGA. 



Toes 4 . 5. Palatine and pterygoid bones united beneath the 

 nasal canal for its whole length. Fur of body and tail elongate, 

 flaccid. Tail \ev\ bushy, lax. Skull very long, very slender ; nose 

 very slender, much longer than the brain-case. Terrestrial, living 

 solitary in marshes. 



Osteology. — Cuvier, Oss. Foss. v. p. 97, t. 9 ; Rapp, t. 46. 

 Myi-mecophaga, Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, p. 383. 



Myrmecopliaga jubata. 



Fur blackish grey, mixed ; hind Hmbs and a mark rimning ob- 

 liquely from the shoulders upwards and backwards black. 



Myrmecophaga jubata, Linn. S. N. i. p. 52; Gerrard, Cat. Bones 

 B.M. p. 288; Rapp, Edent. p. 14, t. 46 (skull); Gray,P.Z.S. 

 1865, p. 383. 



