114 EDENTATA. 



backwards. The ants adhere to his tongue when it is thrust into 

 their hills, and by retracting it, he swallows thousands of them. 

 The eyes of the Myrmecophaga are exceedingly small; their 

 ears short and round ; the legs robust and amazingly powerful, 

 but so unfavorable for locomotion, that these animals are almost 

 as tardy in their movements as the Sloths themselves, except 

 when put to their speed, at which time, their motion is pretty 

 rapid. Of the Ant-Eaters proper, we name three species. 1. 

 M. jubata, (Lai. maned or crested,) the GREAT ANT-EATER. 

 This animal is about four and a half feet in length, from the 

 snout to the tail, which is three and one-quarter feet long, so that 

 the entire length of the animal is seven and three-quarters feet ; 

 the height at the shoulders is three and three-twelfths feet, and 

 but two and ten-twelfths feet at the croup, in consequence of 

 which, being perfectly plantigrade, it necessarily stands lower 

 behind than before, as is seen in the bear and badger ; the toes 

 are four on the front, and five on the hind extremities. It is 

 sometimes called Ant-Bear, from its mode of defence, which 

 resembles that of the bear. When assailed by a dog, he seizes 

 him between his strong fore legs, and squeezes him to death, or 

 else deals out severe blows with his sharp prehensile claws. 

 The clothing of the Great Ant-Eater consists of long, coarse hair, 

 forming a mane down the neck and back, and enveloping the tail 

 in a thick brush, which trails upon the ground. On the head the 

 fur is close and spare. The color is generally a grizzled black ; a 

 dark black stripe, bordered with white, passing obliquely from 

 the side of the neck, to the upper part of the back. This singular 

 animal has but a single young one at a birth, which for a whole 

 year is carried about with the mother wherever she goes. Its 

 digestive organs seem adapted for extracting nutriment from ants 

 alone. In its habits, it is solitary as well as slothful. Like all 

 other animals living upon insects, it can exist a long time without 

 food. Its flesh, though black, and of a musky flavor, is sometimes 

 found on the tables of Europeans, and by the Indians is highly 

 esteemed. 



M. Tamandua. (Cuvier.) The TAMANDTTA. 



This Ant-Eater is much smaller than the one just described, 

 being not so large as a fox, or even a good sized cat ; whereas 

 the Maned Ant-Eater exceeds in length the largest greyhound, 

 though much inferior to that animal in height, owing to the short- 

 ness of its legs. In the conformation of its extremities, and the 

 number of its toes before and behind, the Tamandua is like the 

 Ant-Bear ; but it differs from that animal in the prehensile power 

 of its tail, which makes it essentially an arboreal quadruped. 



