1S3 



PANGOLINS. 



PANGOLINS. 



180 



with proportions and views very different from those to be observed 

 in the Sloths, among which they are so greatly prolonged as to be 

 hardly fit for anything but suspension from trees. [At.] In the Ant- 

 Eaters they have all the strength necessary for tearing down the neats 

 of the Termites, on which they feed ; and, as it might be expected, 

 the fore feet of these quadrupeds is, next to their skull, the most 

 remarkable part of their skeleton. The ungueal phalanges of their 

 large toes are, like those of the Sloths, so disposed as riot to be capable 

 of curvature in any other direction than downwards; and are in 

 effect held in that position, the state of repose, by strong ligaments. 

 In the Pangolins their point is forked, whilst ia the Hairy Ant-Eaters 

 it ia only furrowed, and has at its base a strong bony sheath for the 

 insertion of the claw. In the Pangolins the general structure of the 

 fore foot is the same as in the Hairy Ant-Eaters; but besides the 

 differences above noticed, the scaphoid and semilunar bones of the 

 carpus are confluent, forming a single piece, aa in the Carnasaiers. In 

 the Pangolins there is, too, less irregularity in the proportions of the 

 toes, though in them, aa well as in the Hairy Ant-Eaters, the middle 

 one is stoutest and longest. 



The pelvis in all these animals exhibits the singularity of the 

 ischium uniting with the last vertebra of the sacrum, which is fur- 



Pelris of Pangolin. (Cuvicr.) 



niahed with apophyseg for its reception, so that instead of the Uchiatic 

 notch there is a hole, which at first sight has the semblance of a second 

 oval hole, a conformation observable in the Sloths and Armadilloes. 

 In the Pangolins the OB ilii, which is of a prismatic form and termi- 



ni the Tamanoir, Tamandua, and the Pangolins is triangular and very 

 small, but in the Little Ant-Eater is elongated and widened so as to 

 form a sort of heel. This species of calcaneum, it is true, is veiy 

 short, not going farther backwards than the astragalus itself. It is 

 this supernumerary bone which gives to the sole of the foot of the 

 Little Ant-Eater that concave form which renders it so fit for grasping 

 branches and climbing trees. 



The Pangolins are remarkable for the strength of their caudal 

 vertebrae, and for the extended width of their transverse apophyses; 

 there are 47 in the tail of Manis macroura, and only 26 in that of the 

 Short-Tailed Pangolin, which has 3 sacral, 6 lumbar, 15 dorsal, and 

 7 cervical vertebra); in the Phatagin Cuvier found only 13 dorsal and 

 5 lumbar vertebra. The spiny apophyses of the back and loins of 

 these two animals are square, as in the Tamanoir. 



The Pangolins have the bones of the ribs flat, eight in number, of 

 which the three penultimate are placed transversely, and the last of 

 all, which is very long, cylindrical, and forked in the Pangolin (flattened 

 in the Short-Tailed Pangolin), terminates in two strong tendons, which 

 in the latter reach to the pelvis, and greatly assist the animals in rolling 

 themselves into a ball. 



Mttiils has the following characters: Lower jaw very small; tongue 

 very extensible. Body and tail entirely covered above with large 

 triangular trenchant scales disposed quincuncially, and overlapping 

 each other like tiles. Toes five, armed with robust claws. Body 

 endowed with the faculty of rolling itself up more or less into the 

 form of a ball. Dental Formula, 0. 



The Pangolins are slow in motion, and live on worms and insects, 

 especially termites and ants, which they seize by means of their 

 extensible and glutinous tongue. 



M. pentadactyla (M. brachyvra of Erxleben, and probably the 

 Phattage of ^Elian, xvi. 6), Indian, Broad-Tailed, or Short-Tailed 

 Manis. It has the head small, pointed, and conic ; muzzle elongated 

 and narrow. Body rather stout. Tail short and very broad at its 

 base. Dorsal scales disposed in longitudinal rows to the number of 

 eleven ; under part of the body, head, and feet naked ; some long fair- 

 coloured hairs spring from under the scales. Middle claw of the fore 

 feet far exceeding the others in its proportions. 



It is a native of the East Indies, coast of Tranquebar, &c. It feeds 

 much on termites, or white ants, for the destruction of whose conical 

 nests the great middle claw is admirably adapted. Thunberg states 

 that it is found much in Ceylon, especially near Negumbo. The 

 Dutch call it the Negumbo Devil, and the Cingalese, Caballe. IU 

 flesh was given to the sick to eat by way of remedy. Thunberg 

 further informs us that the inhabitants have a method of making a 

 hole in its skin with a knife, and thus of guiding and governing the 

 animal at their pleasure, the point of the knife, which is kept in the 

 hole, goading and irritating him. The cruelty of this proceeding does 

 not however seem to have struck the traveller. The Land-Carp is 

 also an Asiatic name for this species. It is the Kuwlee Manjar, or 

 Tiled Cat, of the Mahrattas, according to Colonel Sykes, who notices 

 it as very common in Dukhun (Dcccau), and living on white ants. 

 Mr. Hodgson, in his catalogue of the quadrupeds of Nepaul, mentions 

 a new species of Manis allied to M. Javanica (Desm.), as being of 

 frequent occurrence in the hills of the lower region, and in the moun- 

 tains of the central tract. ('ZooL Proc.,' 1830, 1831, and 1834.) 



Skeleton of Short-Tailed Pangolin (Jfnni'j penlaiactyla). (Cuvier.) 



nates in front by a tuberosity, M articulated also to the last lumbar 

 vertebra ; but this is not the case among the Hairy Ant-Eater*, where ' 

 this bone is besides flatter ; in both it is oblong, and not widened aa 

 in the Sloth. 



The great trochanter is less elevated than the head of the femur. 

 The lower head of the bone is as wide as it is long, and the rotular 

 pulley in wide but not deep. The tibia and fibula are very distinct. 

 The astragalus correspomU to this in the form of its upper head, the 

 lower only corresponds to the scaphoid bone, and is concave, as it is 

 in the SI- th, which in remarkable. The calcaneum is compressed at 

 its posterior apophysix, and \i united to the astragiilus as in most 

 animtln. In the tarsus there is a scaphoid bone, which is convex on 

 the anterior side of it* articulation with the astragalus, but curving 

 behind that bone ; a cuboid longer than it is wide ; three cuneiform 

 bonet, the internal of which is double that of the others; and a super- 

 numerary bone articulated on this internal cuneiform bone, and which 



M. Mradactyla, the Phatagiu of Buffon, appears to be the Long- 

 Tailed Pangolin (M. macroura, Erxleb.) This species is from two to 

 three feet in length, and the tail is twice .as long as the body ; the 

 scales are pointed. 



It is a native of Senegal, Guinea, &c. 



M. Temminckii (Smuts). Mr. Bennett described this species from 

 a specimen in the collection made by Mr. Steedman in South Africa ; 

 and he stated that his object in calling the attention of the Society to 

 it was to point out the external characteristics of a species known to 

 its original describers by its skeleton alone and a few detached scales ; . 

 and he characterised it as a Manis with a rather short head, a rather 

 wide body; the scales large, and in 11 rows; the tail as long as the 

 trunk, rather less than that in width, and hardly narrower at the 

 subtruncate apex. Length 25J inches.; of the tail 12 inches; width 

 of the back 8 inches ; of the tail near the apex 5 inches. 



Mr. Bennett observes that the most remarkable features of this 



