356 Zoological Society. 



racters of the cranium, in which my observations have been assisted 

 by the immortal work alluded to. 



Tatusia. 



Ears thrown backwards and approximated ; plates of the head of 

 irregular shape and smooth ; those of the scapular and pelvic shields 

 much smaller than those of the bands, and surrounded with others 

 smaller still ; fore-feet -with four toes, the claws straight, the index 

 and medius nearly equal, the pollex and annularis small ; maxillary 

 bone terminating in a pointed process behind ; teeth rather small, 

 none of them being further back than the root of the malar process ; 

 this process concave anteriorly, projecting ovitwards and backwards ; 

 the infra-orbital canal entirely below it ; malar bone simply a portion 

 of an inverted arch, hollowed on the outer side for nearly its whole 

 length by the masseteric impression, merely abutting against the 

 zygoma ; palatine bone reduced in vertical extent, being encroached 

 on above by a large thickened portion of the ethmoid bone which 

 appears in the orbit, the sphenopalatine foramen being a narrow 

 fissure between them ; pterygoid bone simply bordering the termi- 

 nation of the palatine, without hamular process ; zygoma compressed 

 and elevated, its glenoid surface circular ; tympanic bone reduced to 

 a ring ; mastoid narrowed ; lower jaw slender, its condyle but little 

 elevated, transverse and flat, coronoid process elevated. 



T. SEPTEMCINCTA. 



Ears about one-third of the length of the head ; plates smooth ; 

 tail as long as the body. 



T. affinis of Dr. Lund may possibly be identical. 



T. HYBRIDA. 



Ears about one-fourth of the length of the head ; plates of the 

 pelvic shield convex and elevated ; tail about two-thirds of the length 

 of the body. The characters of this species, which was named by 

 M. Desmarest, are carefully pointed out by Mr. Martin in the ' Pro- 

 ceedings ' of the Society, January 1837. 



Cuvier speaks of a third species brought from Brazil by M. de 

 Saint-Hilaire, under the name of Tatou verdadeiro, differing from 

 the mule Armadillo in having the tail terminated by a horny sheath 

 of one piece, the bands broader, ai^d the plates of the pelvic shield 

 larger. 



Dr. Lund figures two ossicles of a Tatusia, indicating dimensions 

 much greater than those usually attained by specimens belonging to 

 the genus, and applies the name Dasypiis punctatus. I find in the 

 Museum of the College of Surgeons a recent carapace, denuded of its 

 homy epidermal scutes, and wanting the scapular shield ; it is as 

 large as Dr. Lund's figures would im]3ly, and has the same punctate 

 depressions in the grooves which mark the surfaces of the component 

 dssicles. It differs from a smaller one, still a large sj^ecimen, also 

 denuded of the epidermal scutes, in the latter having the central area 

 of each ossicle a little elevated at its posterior margin, and the punc- 



