CHAPTER XXI 



THE SLOTHS, ANT-EATERS, AND ARMADILLOS 



BY W. P. PYCRAFT, A. L. S., F. Z. S. 



Fhttt t) A. S. Rutland <& Stni 



NORTHERN TWO-TOED SLOTH (COSTA RICA) 



Ui it also knman as Hofaann'i Sloth. The appellation " fun-toed" refers to the fore limb only. 

 The hind foot has three toes 



T 



very remark- 

 able 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 modifica- 

 tion has tended to render 

 themmoreperfectlyadapted 

 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 



... _. , , . 11 1 <- 11 a i u u u b i 1 1 v e i y 



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

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



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