CHAPTER XXI 



THE SLOTHS, ANT-EATERS, AND ARMADILLOS 



BY \\ . !'. PYCRAFT, A. I., b., f. '■■ S. 



THE very remark- 

 able assemblage 

 df animals we are 

 now about to consider 

 includes many diverse 

 forms, bracketed together 

 to constitute one great 

 group ; and this on account 

 of the peculiarities of the 

 structure and distribution 

 of the teeth, which arc 

 never present in the front 

 of the jaw, and may be 

 absent altogether. Of the 

 five groups recognised, 

 three occur in the New 

 and two in the ( >ld World. 

 All have undergone very 

 considerable modification 

 of form and structure, and 

 in even' case this modifica- 

 tion has tended to render 

 them more perfectly adapted 

 to an arboreal or terrestrial 

 e x is te nc e. Flyi n g o r 

 aquatic types are wanting. 

 Whilst one great group — 

 the Sloths — is entirely 

 vegetarian, the others feed 

 either on flesh or insects. 



'I'm. Si.' >THS 

 I n the m a 1 1 e r o f 

 personal appearance Nature 

 has not been kind to the 

 SLOTH, though it is cer- 

 tainly true that there are 

 many uglier animals — not 

 including those, Mich as 

 some of the Monkey Tribe 

 and certain of the Swine, 

 w h i c h arc positive! y 

 Wdeous The mode of life of the sloth is certainly remarkable, for almost its whole existence 

 •S passed among the highest trees of the densest South American forests, and passed, too, in 



300 



NORTHERN TWO-TOED SLOTH (COSTA RICA) 



Thii h aho known <u Hoffmann', Slot*. The ' ' -toed" refer, to the fort limb only. 



The hind foot hat three toes 



