54f) EDENTATA. 



and that the latter was contemporaneous with man, whose remains were 

 also found in the cavern, together with those of an extinct horse and 

 portions of a large feline carnivore. There were also traces of fire in the 

 cavern. Scelidotherium Ow., Miocene and Pliocene of Argentina ; Nothro- 

 Iherium Lydekker, Pleistocene of Brazil and Argentina Promylodon 

 Amegh., Oligocene of Argentina, with bands of enamel on the teeth ; 

 and many other genera. 



Fam. 5. Megalonichidae with several genera, for the most part 

 smaller in size, including Hapalops, etc., from the Eocene of. S. America; 

 Nothropus, from the Pleistocene of Argentina ; Megalonyx, from the 

 Pleistocene of N. America, and the Antilles. 



Fam. 6. Dasypodidae.* Armadilloes. The back and sides of the 

 body are covered by an armour of suturally united bony scutes, over 

 which lie horny epidermal scales. These scutes are usually united into 

 four shields. There is a cephalic shield on the head, a scapular shield 

 on the shoulders, a pelvic shield attached to the ilia and ischia and arching 

 over the rump, and on the trunk a thoraco-abdominal shield, which fre- 

 quently consists of a number of moveable transverse zones, which are 

 connected by soft skin and permit of the body being rolled into a ball. 

 There may also be a nuchal shield on the neck. The scapular and pelvic 

 shields overhang the sides of the body and form chambers into which the 

 limbs can be withdrawn. The tail also is more or less completely encased 

 in bony rings, and the outer surfaces of the limbs are protected by irregular 

 scutes. The ventral surface of the body is soft and hairy, and hairs may 

 project between the scales on the back. In Chlamydophorus the bony 

 scutes are strongly developed in the pelvic region only. The dentition 

 is monophyodont except in Tatusia ; the teeth are numerous and not 

 found in the fore part of the mouth except in one or two forms in which 

 there is one tooth in each premaxilla. Premaxillae well developed ; 

 zygoma complete. The atlas is free, but more or fewer of the other 

 cervical vertebrae are ankylosed by their centra and arches as in Cetacea. 

 Lumbar and hinder dorsal vertebrae with accessory articulating processes. 

 The first rib is broad and flattened. The scapula has a second spine in 

 the postscapular fossa. Clavicles well developed. The femur has a 

 third trochaiiter and the tibia and fibula are joined distally. Manus 

 with 4 or 5 digits and strong curved claws ; pes plantigrade with o digits. 

 Tongue long and extensile. Submaxillary glands large. Stomach and 

 uterus simple. Caeca paired or absent. Placenta discoidal. Penis 

 large without glans ; the testes are abdominal. Brain smooth, with 

 large olfactory lobes. With one pair of pectoral mammae and an ad- 

 ditional inguinal pair in Tatusia ; they produce one or two young at a 

 birth except Tatusia. They are all burrowing nocturnal animals, of 

 small or moderate size, and omnivorous in their diet, eating roots, insects, 

 worms, lizards and carrion. They are somewhat pig-like, harmless animals, 

 usually with large external ears, and they can can run and burrow 

 with great rapidity. They inhabit the plains and forests of tropical and 

 temperate S. America and one species (Tatusia novem-cincta) ranges 

 into Texas. Chlamydophorus Harlan, the pichyciego. Small animals 

 with long silky hair differing from other dasypods in their dermal armour, 

 and with small external ears. The body is covered with four-sided horny 



* L. J. Fitzinger, Die nattirliche Familie der Gtirtelthiere, Sitzb. Akad. 

 Wiss. Wien, 64, 1871. Lahille. Contrib. Etud. Edentes a bandes mobile 

 de la Rep. Argentine, Ann. Mus. La Plata, Zool., 2, p. 1-30. 



