256 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS OF THE UNITED STATES 



D. V. pigra Bangs. Smaller and with a much longer and slenderer 

 tail and smaller feet: Florida and the Gulf coast; westward to western 

 Louisiana. 



Order 2. Edentata. — Mammals either without teeth or with primi- 

 tive, conical teeth which lack enamel and never form a complete 

 series, canines and incisors being generally absent: about 100 species, 

 which include armadillos, anteaters and sloths, most of which live in 

 South and Central America; two genera in Africa and Asia; i species 

 in the United States. 



Family Dasypodidae. — Head narrow; snout long; body almost 

 hairless and covered with a bony carapace in which are 6 to 12 movable 

 rings in the middle region; tail long; toes 4-5, all with strong, curved 

 claws: 2 genera; nocturnal, burrowing animals, feeding mainly on insects 

 W'hich they lick up with the sticky surface of their extensile tongues. 



Dasypus L. With the characters of the family; toes on the fore 

 feet nearly symmetrical: i species. 



D. novemcinctus L. The nine-banded armadillo. Carapace with 

 8 movable rings in the middle and 9 on the sides; tail very long and 

 covered with 12 or more rings; top of head and legs covered with scales; 

 color of head pale brown, of back black, of sides yellowish white; length 

 240 mm.; tail 90 mm.; hind foot 30 mm.; dentition 0/0, 0/0, 0/0, 8/8: 

 southern Texas and New Mexico, and southward to Argentina; 4 or 8 

 young at a birth in respectively either one or two monozygotic groups 

 of quadruplets. The armor is a protection against cactus and other 

 spiny plants and not against animal foes, as the animal does not coil 

 itself into a ball when attacked. 



Order 3. Sirenia. — Aquatic, herbivorous mammals of large size 

 without hind limbs or external ears; cervical vertebrae 6; fore limbs oval 

 flippers; tail rounded and flattened; i pair of thoracic mammae; 

 body naked: 2 families, i American. 



Family Trichechidae. — With the characters of the order; dentition 

 2/2, 0/0, 0/0, 6/6 to ii/ii: I genus. 



Trichechus L. With the characters of the order: 2 species, one {T. 

 iniinguis) in the Amazon and Orinoco. 



T. latirostris (Harlan). Manatee. Color uniform grayish black; 

 extreme length 4500 mm.; extreme weight 1500 lbs; upper Up divided 

 and very broad; eyes very small: east coast of Florida to Yucatan and 

 the West Indias, in estuaries of broad rivers and coastal lagoons, where 

 they feed on water plants; i or 2 young at a birth. 



Order 4. Insectivora. — Moles and shrews. Small, mostly noctur- 

 nal mammals which live in or on the ground; feet plantigrade and usually 



