GIANT SLOTHS AND ARMADILLOS. 189 



armadillo, the Glyptodon. 1 To the eye it resembles more or less 

 an armadillo, and has a huge cuirass, or large plate of armour, 

 covering the whole of the body, but allowing the head to show in 

 front, while the legs come out beneath. Both head and tail were 

 also protected with armour. The great shield, or carapace, in 

 most of the extinct armadillos, is composed of long plates of 

 regular shape, closely united at their edges (sutures) so as to form 

 a solid piece. It is evident, therefore, that this creature, having 

 no movable bands, as living armadillos have, could not roll itself 

 up into a ball. The fore feet have thick, short toes, instead of 

 long ones, such as their modern representatives have; and 

 from this we may infer that they were not in the habit of burrow- 

 ing or of seeking their food underground. The family of 

 Glyptodonts seem to have been chiefly confined to the continent 

 of South America, but some species are known to have extended 

 their range as far as Mexico, and Texas into North America. A 

 good deal of confusion has arisen with regard to the classification 

 of these old-fashioned armadillos, on account of the fact that 

 isolated specimens of their tails have often been found, and these 

 cannot always be referred to the right carapaces. For example, 

 it should be pointed out here that the tail represented in Fig. 51 

 really belongs to another genus, known as Hoplophorus. 2 



In Glyptodon asper (Plate XIX.), the scutes of the carapace 

 had a beautiful rosette-like sculpture, while the sheath of the tail 

 was entirely composed of a series of movable rings, ornamented 

 with large projecting tubercles. The vertebrae of the backbone 

 are almost entirely fused together into a long tube, and also are 

 joined to the under surface of the great shield, to which the ribs 

 are united. The cheek-teeth are sixteen in number, four above 

 and four below on each side. These are channelled with two 

 broad and deep grooves, which divide the surface into three 

 distinct lobes. Hence the name of the animal. 



1 So named by Sir R. Owen, in reference to the sculptured aspect of the 

 grinding surface of the teeth. Greek ghtpho, I carve ; odous^ cdontos, tooth. 



2 Greek ffoplon, armour ; phero, I bear. 



