184 



MAMMALIA ORDER IX.EDENTA TA. 



tudinal slit in the middle of the upper surface ; and in all cases the 

 limbs are relatively short and stout. Unlike the sloths, the ant-eaters 

 have a very long and powerful tail, which in two of the species is endowed 

 with the power of prehension, as indeed is the case with so many of the 

 animals inhabiting the dense forest - regions of tropical America. In 

 correlation with their insectivorous habits, the stomach of the ant-eaters is 

 perfectly simple in structure, and the brain is more convoluted than in the 

 sloths. Two out of the three species have the fur of the body marked by 

 dark and light longitudinal bands or patches, and it is noteworthy that 

 this type of coloration approximates to that obtaining in the under-fur of 

 the sloths. In order to procure their insect-food, which mostly comprises 

 ants and termites, the long worm-like tongue, which can be protruded with 

 great rapidity from the tubular mouth, is provided with a viscid secretion. 



The largest and most specialised member of the family is the great ant- 

 eater, or tamahoa (Myrmecophaga jubata), which is terrestrial in its habits, 



and is easily recognised by the 

 exceedingly long and slender 

 head, passing almost imper- 

 ceptibly into the neck, the 

 minute ears, the fringe of long 

 hair clothing the fore-limbs and 

 flanks, and the huge mass of 

 still more elongated hairs cover- 

 ing the tail. This ant-eater, 

 which attains a length of about 

 4 ft. to the root of the tail, is 

 distributed over the whole of 

 the tropical districts of South 

 and Central America, fre- 

 quenting either damp swampy 

 forests or the margins of 

 rivers. Like the other species, it is strictly nocturnal in its habits, and but 

 a single offspring, which is carried for some time on the back of its parent, 

 is produced at a birth. Next in point of size is the lesser ant-eater, or 

 tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla), which scarcely attains half the dimen- 

 sions of its larger cousin, and is distinguished by the uniformly short fur, 

 shorter head, the much longer ears, and the cylindrical prehensile tail, 

 which is naked both at the tip and along the whole of the lower aspect. In 

 the fore-feet the claw of the fifth digit is rudimental and concealed 

 beneath the skin, while that of the third is much larger than either 

 of the others, the hind-foot being generally similar to that of the 

 larger species. The tamandua has approximately the same geographi- 

 cal distribution as the latter, from which it differs in being mainly 

 arboreal in its habits. The most sloth-like, and at the same time the 

 most diminutive member of the group is the two-clawed ant-eater (Cydoturus 

 didactylus), which does not exceed a rat in size, and has the sloth-like habit 

 of hanging back downwards from the boughs of trees, to which it clings by 

 its long, hook-like claws. In the shortness of the head this species likewise 

 presents a decided approximation to the sloths. While the front paws have 

 four toes, only the first and second of these that is to say, those correspond- 

 ing to the index and middle fingers of the human hand are furnished with 

 claws ; but the four toes of the hind- foot are all clawed, and as they are 



Fig. 98. GREAT ANT-EATER (Myrmecophaga 

 jubata). 



