MAMMALS 247 



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 

 primitive, conical teeth which lack enamel and roots 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 

 which 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 

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

 covered with rings; top of head and legs covered with shields and scales; 

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

 800 mm. ; tail 375 mm. ; hind foot 100 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 largely a protection against cactus and 

 other spiny plants. 



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 mammas; body 

 naked: 2 families, i American. 



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

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



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

 inunguis) in the Amazon and Orinoco. 



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

 extreme length 4000 mm.; extreme weight 2000 lbs; upper lip 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. — ^]\Ioles and shrews. Small, mostly noctur- 

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

 usually pentadactylous; canine teeth small; skull elongate; snout often 



