CHORDATA 



3^9 



other insects. The other family consists of the pangolins ( I 

 360), which are found in southern Asia also; they are sometimes 

 called the scaly ant-eaters, as the body is covered except on the 

 ventral side with overlapping horny scales ; the ventral surface 



Fig. 360. Mams pentadactyla, the scaly ant-eater or pangolin. (After Vogt and Sprecht, 



from Parker and Haswell's Manual.) 



is hairy. Teeth are wanting in the pangolins, and they possess 

 a long, slender tongue, which they use in catching the insects 

 on which they feed ; they are commonly from half a meter to 

 a meter long, while the tail is generally from a third to one 

 half the entire length. 



FlG. 361. Myrmecophaga jubata, the giant ant-eater of South America. (From a photo- 

 graph provided by the American Museum of Natural History.) 



All the rest of the Edentata belong to America. The hairy 

 ant-eaters (Figs. 361 and 362) have the body covered with long 

 hair; teeth are absent, and there is a long, slender, protrusible 

 tongue for capturing insects ; they vary in size, the largest being 

 a meter and a half long. The sloths (Fig. 363) are strictly 



2B 



