214 SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF MAMMALIA. 



142.— Little Ant-eater, 



in the shortness of the muzzle, which is conical ; in the 

 number of the claws, which are two on each fore-foot, 

 of hook -like shape, compressed laterally and very sharp, 

 the outer one being considerably the largest ; in the ob- 

 lique position of the hind-feet, which are armed with 

 four short compressed claws ; and lastly in the strongly 

 prehensile power of the tail, which is very long and 

 covered with fine silky fur, like that of the body, except 

 for three inches of the under surface at the tip, where, . 

 as in the spider-monkey, it is perfectly naked. The claws 

 of the fore-feet, which resemble those of the sloth, are 

 folded down on a callous pad, and with these the little 

 creature can cling to a branch, while the inward tournure 

 of the hind-limbs combines with the prehensile structure 

 of the tail to fit it for its arboreal residence. It may be 

 observed that the animal possesses clavicles, which do 

 not exist in .the great ant-eater, the tamandua, nor yet 

 in the pangolins. The eyes are small, the ears close 

 and buried in the fur ; the mouth is small, and the tongue 

 long and vermiform. The fur is exquisitely fine, soft, 



