Zoological Society. 361 



terior end: the foramen rotundum included in the foramen spheno- 

 orbitarium ; the zygoma very small, and pushed quite to the anterior 

 superior angle of the squamous portion ; the supra-occipital hone en- 

 croaches up'on the upper surface of the skull, and has a median pro- 

 tuberance ; the lower jaw much lengthened and slender at the end, 

 •without coronoid process. i » x ^ t i,„„» 



Not having seen the skull of the little Two-toed Ant-eater, I have 

 used a little caution in characterizing this family. For example, I 

 have avoided alluding to the peculiar character of the pterygoids as 

 Cuvier informs us that they do not enclose a long canal as in the 

 larger species. I therefore limit the diagnoses of the genera to the 

 few points, in which, in the absence of a skull of the small species, 

 they are known to differ*. 



Myrmecophaga, Linnaeus. 



Fore-feet with four toes; hind-feet with five toes; palatine and 

 pterygoid bones united beneath the nasal canal for their whole length. 



M. JUBATA, Linn. 



Varied with black and grey, the latter predominating on the head, 

 back, sides, fore-limbs and tail ; throat, a mark gunning obliquely 

 from the shoulder upwards and backwards, and hmd-hmbs black ; tui 

 very coarse ; tail but little longer than the body, very bushy. 



M. Tamandua. 



Head, shoulders, fore-hmbs, outside of the hind-limbs, and middle 

 third of the tail white ; a stripe from each side of the neck over the 

 shoulder and remaining parts black; tail but little longer than the 

 body, its terminal third scaly. Varies chiefly by the dimmution of 

 the intensity of the black. i x i „ „„„ 



I have found that the Yellow Ant-eater, hitherto considered to be one 

 of the varieties of this species, differs remarkably in the length and size 

 of the tail ; the ears also appear to be larger, but this atter character 

 is less decisive, owing to the different degrees to which they may 

 shrink when dry. A specimen in the British Museum, and one in 

 that of this Society, resemble each other exactly, while a young pale 

 specimen of M. Tamandua has a tail proportionally of the same length 

 as the larger and darker individuals. Under these circumstances I 

 have been induced to propose a name for the Yellow Ant-eater, deem- 

 ing it probable that the species may be distinct. 



M. longicaudata. 



General colour uniform hght ochraceous, a paler line runs down 

 the middle of the back ; tail nearly double the length of the body, 

 its terminal half covered with small scales and a few scattered black 

 hairs ; ears large, round, about one-third the length of the head. 



* I have since seen the cranial portion of the skull of the Little Ant-eater, and 

 find that although the pterygoid bones do not enclose the nasal canal below, they 

 s emble those of the larger species in their great extent backwards. 

 Ann. Sf Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xu. 25 



