CHAPTER XXI. 



THE SLOTHS, ANT-EATERS, AND ARMADILLOS. 



BY W. P. PVCHAFT, A.L.S.. F.7.8. 



r 1 1HE very remarkable- 

 I assemblage of 

 animals we are- 

 now about to consider 

 includes many diverse 

 forms, bracketed together 

 to constitute one great 

 group ; and this on account 

 of the peculiarities of the 

 structure and distribution 

 of the teeth, which are 

 never present in the front 

 of the jaw, and may be 

 absent altogether. Of the 

 five groups recognised, 

 three occur in the New 

 and two in the Old World. 

 All have undergone very 

 considerable modification of 

 form and structure, and in 

 every case this modification 

 has tended to render them 

 more perfectly adapted to 

 an arboreal or terrestrial 

 existence. Flying or 

 aquatic types are wanting. 

 Whilst one great group 

 the Sloths is entirely 

 vegetarian, the others feed 

 either on flesh or insects. 



THE SLOTHS. 

 In the matter of 

 personal appearance Nature 

 has not been kind to the 

 SLOTH, though it is cer- 

 tainly true that there are 

 many uglier animals not 

 including those, such as 

 some of the Monkey Tribe 

 and certain of the Swine, 

 which are positively 

 hideous. The mode of life of the sloth is certainly remarkable, for almost its whole existence 

 is passed among the highest trees of the densest South American forests, and passed, too, in 



336 



' fhoto by A. S. HuMand io/u. 



NORTHERN TWO-TOED SLOTH (COST A KICA). 



This is also known as Hoffmann's Sloth. The appellation " two-toed " refers to the fore limb only 

 The hind foot has three toes. 



