THE ANT-EATERS 1381 



example of the effects of adaptation to widely-different modes of life in modifying 

 the organization of nearly-allied animals. In the present instance the extinct 

 ground-sloths are probably the least removed from the original common type. In 

 the sloths the needs of a purely-arboreal life have led to a great elongation 

 of the fore-limbs, coupled with the reduction of the digits to a few hook-like 

 claws, and the functional loss of the tail. In the other group, the ant-eating habit 

 has led to an extraordinary elongation of the skull, with the loss of all traces of 

 teeth. 



All the ant-eaters are characterized by the body being clothed with hair, and 

 by the more or less marked elongation of the head, in which the mouth is tubular, 

 and provided with a long worm-like tongue, while teeth are wanting. The mouth 

 has only a small aperture at its extremity, through which, when feeding, the long 

 extensile tongue, coated with viscid saliva, is rapidly protruded and as instantane- 

 ously withdrawn. The tail is always long, and in two species is prehensile. In the 

 fore- feet the middle toe is enlarged and furnished with an enormous curved claw, 



SKELETON OF GREAT ANT-EATER. 



while the other digits are reduced in size, and some of them may be rudimentary. 

 The hind-limbs are as long as the front pair, and their feet terminate in four or five 

 equal-sized and clawed toes. In the skeleton the collar bones are generally rudi- 

 mentary, although in one genus well developed, and the ribs are remarkable for 

 their breadth. In the soft parts the stomach is comparatively simple, the brain 

 much more convoluted than in the sloths. The heart is very small. As their name 

 implies, ant-eaters are purely insectivorous. 



The great, or maned ant-eater ( Myrmecophaga jubata] known in 

 Paraguay as the yurumi, and in Surinam as tamanoa is the largest 

 member of the family. Externally it is characterized by the extreme 

 elongation of its narrow head, and the enormous mass of long hair clothing the tail. 

 The anterior portion of the head forms a kind of cylindrical beak, which is of far 

 greater length than the hinder half, and carries the small nostrils at its tip. The 

 eyes are minute, and the oval ears small and erect. The body is somewhat com- 

 pressed laterally, and is about equal in length to the tail, which is not prehensile. 



