SLOTHS, ANT-EATERS AND ARMADILLOS 329 



Siemann states that a species occurring in Nicaragua " has almost 

 exactly the same greyish-green colour as Tillandsia usneoides, the 

 so-called ' vegetable horsehair ' common in the district. If it 

 could be shown that it frequented trees covered with that plant, 

 there would be a curious case of mimicry between the Sloth's hair 

 and the Tillandsia, and a good reason why so few of these Sloths 

 are seen." 



The Great Ant-Eater (Myrmecophaga \ubata] is a large and 

 handsome animal, with long, shaggy, greyish-black hair, and 

 a broad white stripe across the shoulder. The head is narrow, and 

 ends in a long, flexible, slender snout, with a long, worm-like, round 

 tongue ; and the jaws are destitute of teeth. The huge bushy 

 tail is flattened at the sides, and has a fringe of very long, strong 

 hair. The animal measures over seven feet in length from the 

 end of the snout to the tip of the tail. Its limbs are stoutly built, 

 and the forelegs are provided with powerful claws, which are used 

 in breaking down the strong ant-hills, upon whose inhabitants 

 the Ant-Eater feeds. When standing or walking, the claws of 

 the front feet are bent inwards and under, not touching the ground 

 with their tips, and this peculiarity gives the animal a curious 

 shuffling, hobbling gait. The skull is very low and long, and the 

 framework of the tongue is as important as that of the jaws, which 

 are without teeth. The palate is long so long, in fact, that where 

 the long nose cavity opens into the throat, in the skeleton, certain 

 bones, called pterygoid or wing-shaped, form part of its boundary. 

 This is unusual amongst the Mammalia, and Huxley observes 

 that it is only found in some of the Whale tribe (Cetacea); 



Don Felix d'Azara, in his " Natural History of the Quadrupeds 

 of Paraguay," gives many interesting details concerning the life 

 of this remarkable animal, and states that it is slothful and solitary 

 in its habits, spending a great proportion of its time in slumber. 

 " The female bears but a single young one at a birth, which attaches 

 itself to her back and is carried about with her wherever she goes, 

 rarely quitting her, even for a year after it has acquired sufficient 

 strength to walk and provide for itself. In his natural state the 

 Ant-Eater lives exclusively upon ants, to procure which he opens 

 their hills with his powerful crooked claws, and at the moment 

 that the insects, according to their nature, flock from all quarters 

 to defend their dwellings, draws over them his long, flexible tongue 



