40G ZOOLOGY. 



fore. When at rest, as well as during motion, the anterior claws of the 

 large Myrmecophaga are bent against the naked sole, on the outer edge of 

 which the animal walks. All ant-eaters live in the warmest part of South 

 America, west of the Cordilleras, from the Gulf of .Mexico to the Rio de la 

 Plata. The great ant-eater, M.juhata {pi. 112, jig. 5), from seven to eight 

 feet long, the tail included, is an inhabitant of the forests, and conceals 

 itself in a hole under the ground, which it leaves during night in search of 

 its food, which consists, as we know, of ants, the small and large termites so 

 abundant in South America. The female brings forth only one young, 

 which is carried about for a time on the mother's back. Another species, 

 M. didactyla {pi. 112, jig. 4), has only two nails to the fore feet, whence 

 its specific appellation. The tail is prehensile. Inhabits the northern part 

 of tropical South America, living chiefly on trees, where it procures its 

 insect food. 



Fam. 3. Orycteropodid^, contains as yet but two genera, one now 

 existing, and another extinct. 



The genus Oryctei-opus, comprising only one living species (O. capensis, 

 the Cape ground hog), inhabits the Cape of Good Hope. The head is 

 similar to that of the ant-eater, and the tongue somewhat extensile, but 

 distinguished from the latter by being furnished with grinders, and by 

 having flat nails, formed for digging, not trenchant. The structure of their 

 teeth differs from that of all other quadrupeds; they are solid cylinders, 

 traversed like reeds, in a longitudinal direction, by numerous little tubes. 

 The body is covered with short hairs of a brownish grey color. The tail 

 is shorter than the body, and covered with equally short hairs. There are 

 four toes to the fore feet and five behind. It inhabits burrows, which it 

 excavates with great facility. There is a fossil species of this order from 

 the Pampas of Brazil, Glos<iotheriu7n, which was established upon a small 

 fragment of bone from the posterior part of the cranium. The size of the 

 holes through which the nerves and blood-vessels for the tongue pass, has 

 induced the supposition that the tongue was very much developed, and that 

 the animal could very likely use it like the ant-eaters. On the other hand, 

 the extent of the temporal muscle and the strength of the zygomatic arch, 

 seemed to show that the animal could grind, and necessarily had molar teeth. 

 For these reasons it has been located in the vicinity of the Orycteropus of 

 the present fauna; but more recent investigations have led to the discovery 

 that these remains belonged to Megatherium. 



Fam. 4. Dasypodid^e, is distinguished among Edentata by the scaly and 

 hard shell, formed of divisions resembling little paving stones, which covers 

 the head and body, and frequently the tail. This substance forms one 

 shield over the forehead, a second, very large and convex, over the shoul- 

 ders, a third 6n the neck, very similar to the second, and between the two 

 latter, several parallel and movable bands, which allow the body to bend. 

 The tail is sometimes furnished with successive rings, and at others, like 

 ihe legs, merely with tubercles. 



In the genus Dasypus, or armadilloes, the ears are very large. There are 

 four, sometimes five, great nails to the fore feet ; always five behind. The 

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