305 



ARMADILLO. 



ARMADILLO. 



303 



nearly triangular, the face short, the muzzle obtuse, the ears erect and of 

 moderate size, and the eye smalL The number of moveable bands 

 varies from 7 to 8, according to the individual ; the tail is surrounded 

 at the base with three or four bony rings, but throughout the reat of its 

 length it is merely covered with regular tuberculous scales ; the inter- 

 stices of the moveable bands give origin to a great number of long 

 bristly gray hairs, and the female is provided with only two pectoral 

 mammge. But independently of all other considerations, the Tatu- 

 Poyou is easily distinguished from all the other armadillos by the 

 unusual flatness and broadness of its body, and the consequent com- 

 parative shortness of its legs. It is very common in Paraguay, and 

 burrows in the ground with an almost incredible agility. Its strength 

 and activity are very remarkable ; and notwithstanding the shortness 

 of its legs, it runs so swift that few men can outstrip it. It is of a 

 restless unquiet character, bold, curious, and intrepid. When any 

 noise is made at the entrance of its burrow, or when otherwise tor- 

 mented, it grunts like a young pig, and comes forth without fear to 

 investigate the cause ; yet when actually attacked it is incapable of 

 making any sort of defence, and can only save itself by retreating to 

 the bottom of its hole, or burrowing to a still greater depth. The 

 Poyou feeds much upon carrion, and for this reason its flesh, though 

 fat, is never eaten by the inhabitants of European origin, though the 

 Indians make no distinction in this respect between it and the other 

 armadillos. When it stops or rests, it has a custom of squatting close 

 to the ground like a hare in her form, and in this situation the great 

 breadth of the body is remarkably apparent, being nearly three times 

 its height. 



6. JJ. villosut (Desmarest), the Hairy Armadillo, measures 14 inches 

 in length from the nose to the origin of the tail ; the head is nearly 4 

 inches in length, the ear two-thirds of an inch, and the tai} 5 inches. In 

 form and appearance this species bears a very strong resemblance to that 

 last described, but it is of smaller size, and is comparatively better 

 covered with hair, a circumstance from which it derives the name by 

 which it is most usually distinguished. The head is triangular, the 

 muzzle pointed, the ears large, elliptical, and inclined outwards, and 

 the number of moveable bands varies from 6 to 7 according to the 

 individual. The border of the bucklers, as well as the lower side of 

 the moveable bands, is indented in a remarkable manner, and forms 

 sharp angular points, which serve to approximate the present species 

 to the following, not less than to distinguish it from all the other 

 known armadillo*. There are eight teeth on each side, both above 

 and below. Numerous long flexible brown hairs spring from every 

 part of the body, but more especially from the sides and belly, and 

 even cover the first half of the tail. The female, as in the Poyou, 

 has only two pectoral mammae. 



This species does not inhabit Paraguay, nor, as far as we are at 

 present aware, any other part north of the Rio Plata, but it is found 

 at every step on the pampas or plains of Buenos Ayres, south of that 

 river. " In an expedition," says Azara, " which I made into the 

 interior, between the parallels of 35 and 36 south latitude, I met 

 with vast multitudes of this species of armadillo, so that there was 

 scarcely an individual of the party who did not each day capture one 

 or two at least ; for, unlike the Poyou, which moves abroad only 

 during the night, this animal is to be found at all times, and upon 

 being alarmed promptly conceals itself, if not intercepted. In March 

 and April, when I saw them, they were so extremely fat that their 

 flesh surfeited and palled the appetite ; notwithstanding which the 

 pioneers and soldiers ate them roasted, and preferred them to beef and 

 veal." " The hairy armadillo," continues M. Azara, " like others of 

 the genus, has undoubtedly a very acute sense of smell, since it scents 

 the carcasses of dead horses from a great distance, and rims to devour 

 them ; but as it is unable to penetrate the hide, it burrows under the 

 body till it finds a place which the moisture of the soil hag already 

 begun to render putrid. Here it makes an entrance with its claws, 

 and eats its way into the interior, where it continues feasting on the 

 putrid flesh, till nothing remains but the hide and bones, and so 

 perfectly do these preserve their position, that it is impossible, from a 

 mere external view to anticipate the operations which the armadillos 

 have been carrying on within." The same author observes further, 

 that this species never constructs burrows to reside in, that it avoids 

 low damp situation.*), and is only found on the dry upland plains, 



7. I), minutut (Desmarest), the Pichiy, measures only 10 inches in 

 length from the snout to the origin of the tail, which is itself 4 i inches 

 long ; the head is 2 inches and 8 lines long, 2 inches broad across 

 the orbits, and the ears are a quarter of an inch in length, and very 

 sharp-pointed. The frontal buckler is composed of irregular plates, 

 the eyes being small and nearly concealed under its margin ; there 

 are no plates on the temples, but their place seems to be supplied by 

 a pencil of stiff brown hairs ; the neck is extremely short, and fur- 

 nished above with a row of minute scales ; the shoulder-buckler 

 presents nothing remarkable, but that of the croup is deeply indented 

 along the edges, and the moveable bands, to the number of six or 

 neven, according to the age of the individual, are composed of rectan- 

 gular plates, bordered on each side by compressed scales, lunated and 

 pointing backwards. Each scale is more or less distinctly marked 

 with two longitudinal linear depressions, which divide it into three 

 parts, of which the middle is plain and of an oblong figure, but the, 

 lateral are, as it were, divided into six or eight tubercles. The claws 



MAT. HIST. DIV. VOL. I. 



are but moderately developed, the tail is covered with strong scales 

 disposed in rings, and the interstices of the scales and bands are 

 furnished with a considerable quantity of hair, though less abund- 

 antly and not so long as in the last species. 



The Pichiy inhabits the pampas to the south of Buenos Ayres, 

 and extends from 36 of latitude southward to the confines of Pata- 

 gonia, It inhabits burrows, to which however it does not confine 

 itself during the day, like some other species. Its flesh is said to be 

 remarkably tender and well tasted. Two individuals of this species 

 which had been brought from Port Desire, on the east coast of Pata- 

 gonia, lived for some time in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, and 

 would doubtless bear even the rigour of our more northern climate 

 without injury or inconvenience. 



IV. The Kabassotw have likewise five toes, both on the anterior 

 and posterior extremities, but those of the fore feet are disposed 

 obliquely, in such a manner that the thumb and index are small, the 

 middle and fourth toes armed with tremendously large trenchant 

 claws, and the fifth very small. This construction gives them the 

 means of burrowing with extraordinary facility, and of clinging to 

 the ground with such determination and obstinacy that it is with the 

 utmost difficulty they can be taken from it. They have nine or ten 

 teeth throughout. 



8. D. Tatouay (Desmarest), the Tatouay, or Wounded Armadillo, is so 

 called by the Indians in allusion to its tail, which is naked, or as it 

 were rudely deprived of the crust or bony tube which covers this 

 organ in all the other species. The whole length of the Tatouay, as 

 given by Azara, is 264 inches, from which if we subtract 7J inches for 

 the length of the tail, it leaves 1 foot 7 inches for that of the body. 



The Tatouay (D. Tatouayl . 



The tail is round, pointed and naked, ' with the exception of a few 

 small round scalesor crusts on the under surface of the third ringnearest 

 to the extremity, which frequently trails along the ground when the 

 animal walks ; the rest is covered with soft brown fur, interspersed 

 with a few stiff short hairs on the superior surface. The head is 

 longer, narrower, and more attenuated than that of the Poyou, though 

 considerably less so than in the Peba and Mule Armadillo ; there are 

 8 molars on each side of the upper jaw, and 7 on each side of the lower 

 jaw ; the ears are unusually large, being nearly 2 inches long, and in 

 figure forming a segment of a circle ; the body is round ; the claws of 

 the fore feet, particularly that of the middle toe, are excessively large ; 

 and the female is provided with only two pectoral mamniaj. The 

 bucklers of the croup and shoulders are composed of 10 and 7 rows 

 of scales respectively, each scale forming an oblong rectangle, those of 

 the coccia being the largest of all; the moveable bands are 13 in 

 number, composed of scales much smaller than those of the bucklers, 

 and of a nearly square figure. The habits of this species are altogether 

 unknown. It inhabits Guyana and Brazil, and is rarely found south 

 as far as Paraguay. 



V. The Priodtmtes, or last subdivision of the Armadillos, in addi- 

 tion to the unequal toes and enormous claws of the Kabassous, 

 have from 22 to 24 small teeth throughout, on each side of the jaws, 

 making in all from 88 to 96 teeth a greater number than is found in 

 any other mammal. This group contains but a single species at 

 present known, namely 



9. D.gigas (Cuvier), the Great Armadillo, which is nearly 3 feet 

 3 inches in length, from the nose to the origin of the tail ; the head is 

 74 inches long, the ears li| inch, and the tail 1 foot 5 inches. Its 

 superior size is alone sufficient to distinguish this species from all the 

 other known armadillos, but it possesses numerous other characters not 

 less remarkable. Its head is proportionably smaller than in the other 

 species, the forehead is more protuberant, and the face from the eyes 

 downwards assumes a tubular cylindrical form, like that of the Peba ; 



