VERTEBRATA. 



269 



Order 2. Marsupiala, (marsupos, a pouch,) comprises 

 Kangaroos, Phalangers, Wombats, and Opossums, (Fig. 

 163.) Except the latter, all are restricted to Australia 



FIG. 163. Virginian Opossum. 



and adjacent islands. The young are always born pre- 

 maturely, and are transferred by the mother to a 

 pouch on the abdomen, where they are attached to the 

 nipples, and the milk is forced into their mouths by 

 special muscles. 



Order 3. Edentata, (toothless.) This order contains 

 very diverse forms, as the leaf-eating Sloths and the in- 

 sectivorous Ant-eaters and Armadillos (Fig. 164) of South 

 America, and the Pangolin and Orycteropus of the Old 

 World. The gigantic fossils Megatherium and Glypto- 

 don belong here. The Sloths and Ant-eaters are cov- 

 ered with coarse hair; the Armadillos and Pangolins with 

 an armor of plates, or scales. The Ant-eaters and Pan- 

 golins are strictly edentate, or toothless ; the rest have 

 23* 



