301 



ARMADILLO. 



ARMADILLO. 



species, is universally covered with bony rings, formed, like the rings 

 of the bucklers, of numerous small pieces connected together, but 

 capable of a certain degree of motion, and thus admitting of conside- 

 rable flexibility in the tail itself. The head of the armadillos is 

 flat and terminated by a pointed muzzle, which assists them, like the 

 snout of the hog and mole, to turn up the earth in search of roots 

 and worms. Their ears are erect and pointed, and their eyes very 

 small. They have flat corpulent bodies ; and their legs are so dis- 

 proportionately thick and short that they barely serve to elevate the 

 body above the surface of the ground. Their toes, also, of which 

 there are either four or five on the anterior and invariably five on the 

 posterior extremities, are remarkably short ; but they are furnished 

 with extremely long powerful claws, slightly curved, and in every 

 respect well adapted for digging or burrowing. So rapid indeed are 

 the armadillos at this operation that they easily bury themselves to 

 any depth beyond the reach of their pursuers. They can only be 

 forced from their subterranean retreat by directing smoke or water 

 into their burrows. Their strength and the tenacity of their hold are 

 BO great, that they have been known to leave their tails in the hands 

 of the hunter rather than permit themselves to be drawn forth. Yet 

 notwithstanding the shortness of their legs and the heavy corpulent 

 make of their bodies, the armadillos run with a velocity which could 

 not be anticipated from their general appearance. Most of the species 

 will easily outstrip a man. Their ordinary burrows most commonly 

 run for three or four feet at an angle of about 45 degrees to the plane 

 of the horizon, then make a sudden bend, and terminate at the distance 

 of eight or ten feet from the mouth. Here for the most part they 

 conceal themselves during the daytime, for the greater number of the 

 species are nocturnal, and never move abroad whilst the sun is above 

 the horizon. This rule however admits of some exceptions a few 

 species being found abroad at all times indifferently ; and it has been 

 remarked that these are neither so swift nor so timid as the nocturnal 

 species. 



The teeth of the armadillos are all of a simple cylindrical form, 

 and stand apart from one another like those of the generality of 

 Cetacea and Reptiles. They vary in number from 7 or 8 to 17 or 

 18 on each side of each jaw ; and are so arranged that when the 

 mouth is closed the upper teeth fit into the interstices of the under, 

 and these into the interstices of the upper teeth alternately. The 

 animals never attempt to bite, nor has nature given them any other 

 means of defence than the ease and rapidity with which they avoid 

 danger by burrowing. Their food consists principally of fallen fruits, 

 roots, and worms ; but they do not reject carrion, and have been 

 known to penetrate into human graves when not properly protected 

 by stones or brick-work. Azara informs us that ants are never found 

 in the district* inhabited by the armadillos, and that these animals 

 break into the ant-hills and devour the insects as greedily as the true 

 Ant-Eaters. The ordinary food of the armadillos consists chiefly of 

 the roots of the mandioc, of potatoes, maize, and other similar sub- 

 stances of a vegetable nature ; though, as already observed, without 

 rejecting animal substances naturally soft or so far decomposed as to 

 be easily torn without the help of canine teeth. They are also very 

 destructive to the eggs and young of such birds as build their nests 

 on the ground, and greedily devour worms, frogs, small lizards, and, 

 Azara says, even vipers. The chief animal food of the armadillos, 

 however, is derived from the immense herds of wild cattle which cover 

 the plains and savannahs of every part of South America. These are 

 rarely slaughtered but for the sake of the hide and tallow ; and as the 

 carcasses are left to rot on the pampas or plains, the smell soon 

 attracts vast crowds of carnivorous animals of various species, and 

 among others great numbers of armadillos, which greedily devour the 

 half-putrid flesh, and soon become extremely fat and corpulent. In 

 this condition, notwithstanding the filthy nature of their food, their 

 flesh is esteemed a great delicacy both by the native Indians and by 

 the Portuguese and Spaniards of America. The animal is roasted in 

 its shell, and considered one of the greatest dainties which the 

 country produces. 



The armadillos see but indifferently, particularly in bright sunshiny 

 weather ; but their sense of hearing is extremely acute, and amply 

 compensates for any imperfection of sight. When alarmed by any 

 unusual or strange sound they prick up their ears, stop for a moment 

 to satisfy themselves of its distance and direction, then commence a 

 precipitate retreat to their burrow, or, if that be too remote, begin to 

 construct a new one. Smell is, however, by far the most acute of their 



the 



; cer- 



. ) principles 



of ,'iigineering, they are enabled to direct their subterraneous course 

 to any particular point. "My friend Nos^da," says he, "having 

 arranged a trap for the purpose of taking Chibigouzous, and having 

 placed in it by way of bait a cock, with a small quantity of maize to 

 support him, it so happened that a few grains of the maize fell 

 through between the boards which formed the bottom of the trap. 

 An armadillo arrived during the night, and wishing to get at the 

 maize thus accidentally spilt, opened a trench or burrow at some dis- 

 tance from the trap, and without deviating a hair's breadth from the 

 straight line of his direction, pushed it on to the very spot where the 

 grain had fallen, and possessed himself of the booty." 



It is generally believed that the female armadillo brings forth but 

 once during the year, but she produces at a birth frequently six, eight, 

 or even ten young ones ; yet she has never more than four teats, and, 

 according to the report of M. Azara, the most accurate and extensive 

 observer who has written upon the history of these animals, in some 

 species only two an anomaly with respect to the number of young 

 and the number of teats which appears to contradict the general rule 

 observable among other mammals. Azara indeed supposes that some 

 of the young die for want of proper nourishment, and that the mother 

 only rears those for which she has a sufficient supply of milk. This 

 is however improbable, as we find it a general rule that only the 

 number of young are produced at a time that can be successfully 

 reared. 



The tropical and temperate regions of South America are the 

 original and proper habitat of all the known species of Armadillos. 

 The armadillos are active hardy animals, and thrive and breed 

 rapidly with a moderate portion of care in most temperate countries. 

 Such of the species as prefer a vegetable food, and whose flesh is 

 consequently the most palatable and wholesome, might even be 

 domesticated with advantage, and bred in warrens, like rabbits. In 

 their native climates, however, they still abound in such incredible 

 numbers that the inhabitants will not be at the trouble of rearing 

 what they can so readily procure to any required amount. When 

 therefore the natives of Brazil or Buenos Ayres maintain the 

 armadillo as a domestic animal, it is more for curiosity than for 

 profit. The woods and pampas supply the wild animal in inex- 

 haustible abundance. They are most usually taken in traps during 

 the night; or, when found in open day at any distance from their 

 burrows, are pursued by small dogs, which intercept their retreat till 

 the hunter has time to secure them. One species only when thus 

 attacked has the faculty of rolling itself up into a round ball like a 

 hedge-hog, but they are generally timid and extremely helpless, and 

 none ever attempt to defend themseves either by using their teeth 

 or claws. 



In arranging the Armadillos, Baron Cuvier, for the facility of 

 definition, has divided them into five small groups. 



I. The Cochicames, which have 4 toes on the anterior and 5 on 

 the posterior extremities, 7 teeth only on each side both of the upper 

 and lower jaw, a pointed muzzle, and a long tail, surrounded by a 

 succession of osseous rings, each of which is composed of a number of 

 polygonal plates arranged in numerous series. The two middle claws 

 are excessively large and of equal length ; the lateral, particularly the 

 internal, which represents the thumb, are much shorter, but all are 

 powerful, trenchant, and well fitted for bun-owing. To this division 

 belongs - 



1. Datypua Peba (Desmarest), the Peba, called Tatouhou, or Black 

 Tatu, by the Guaranis, is extremely common in Paraguay, though it does 

 not extend to the province of Buenos Ayres. This species is well figured 





The Peba (Uaiypta Peba}. 



in the original edition of Buffou's ' Histoire Naturelle,' and described 

 by Daubenton under the name of Cachicame, which according to 

 Gumilla is the generic name of the Armadillos among the Indians 

 on the banks of the Orinoco. Azara calls it the Black Armadillo, from 

 its Guarani name ; and it has been admitted into the generality of 

 zoological catalogues under the somewhat ambiguous appellations of 

 fJaypu novemcinctus, D. octocinctus, and 1). septemcinctw, three 

 different species being thus formed from the same animal, under 

 the erroneous supposition that the number of moveable bands 

 between the bucklers of the shoulders and croup was invariable in 

 the same species. 



The length of the Peba, from the snout to the origin of the tail, is 

 about 16 inches, that of the tail 14 inches, and its circumference at 



