THE ARMADILLOS 



True Arma- 

 dillos 



The remaining members of the family, with the exception of the 

 peba armadillo and its allies, are included in a single subfamily, char- 

 acterized by the division of the bony carapace on the back into scapu- 

 lar and lumbar shields, separated from one another by a variable number of movable 

 bands. They all have moderate-sized ears, set at a considerable distance apart, and 

 the first and second claws of the fore-feet are, when present, slender; while the 

 females have but a single pair of teats on the breast. 



The weasel-headed, or six-banded armadillo (Dasypus sexrindus} is 

 Six-Banded ,, . . , , . 



Armadillos y ^ e a & enus characterized by having usually six or seven, but 



occasionally eight, movable bands in the carapace; each bony plate of 

 which is marked by an elliptical row of punctures. The head is broad and flat- 



THE WEASEL-HEADED ARMADILLO. 

 (One-fifth natural size.) 



tened, with an obtusely-pointed muzzle, and rather small or moderate-sized ears; 

 and the body is broad and much depressed. In length the tail is less than the head 

 and body, and the plates on its basal portion form well-defined rings. Of the five 

 toes in the fore-feet, the first is the most slender, the second is the longest, while the 

 three outer ones are the stoutest, and gradually diminish in size from the third to 

 the fifth. They have a rounded inner border, and a sharp outer and lower edge. 

 The teeth may be either nine in the upper and ten in the lower jaw, or one less in 

 each; they are of large size, and the first upper pair are generally implanted in the 

 premaxillary bones. The figured species, which attains a length of about sixteen 

 inches, exclusive of the tail, inhabits Brazil and Paraguay; but is replaced in Argen- 

 tine by the closely-allied peludo, or hairy armadillo (D. villosus). The fleecy arma- 

 dillo (D. vellerosus), from Argentine and the north of Patagonia, and the pichi, or 



