December 1, 1892.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



223 



similar shield protecting the hinder portion of the animal. 

 In our figured example the number of the movable bands 

 is only three, but they may vary from sis to nine up 

 to as many as twelve or thirteen in other species. In 

 one extinct armadillo there were, however, no solid 

 shields, the whole body being covered by a series of 

 thirty-two movable bands. The latter species evidently, 

 therefore, leads on to the rare and beautiful little 

 creature represented in our second illustration, which 

 rejoices in the name of pichiciago. In this tmy animal, 

 which is only about live inches in length, and has a pink- 

 coloured armour above, and long silky white hair below, 

 the armour of the head and body forms a continuous shield 

 of horny plates underlain by very thin plates of bone, and 

 is attached only to the middle line of the back, so that the 

 lateral portions form a kmd of cloak loosely overhanging 

 the hairy sides of the body. The hinder end of this cloak 

 is abruptly truncated, and beneath it the hind-quarters of 

 the animal are protected by a sohd bony shield, through a 

 hole in the centre of which protrudes the small cylindrical 

 taU. When the animal creeps beneath a crevice hi rocks, 

 as shown in the right hand corner of our illustration, 

 which is not sufficient to conceal its whole body, the strong 

 shield on the quarters ati'ords an ample protection against 

 all attacks. The pichiciago is found on sandy plains only 

 in the western portions of the Argentine pampas. It will 

 be seen fi'om our illustrations that this creature also differs 

 from the true armadillos in the absence of the large 

 external ears which form such a characteristic feature in 

 the physiognomy of the latter. 



Eeverting to the true armadillos, we find that the 

 majority of the species protect themselves fi'om attack by 

 squatting on the ground, and tucking their limbs within the 

 shelter of the edges of the armour of the body, while the 

 plated head is drawn as close as possible to the front shield. 

 On the other hand, the species represented in our illustra- 

 tion has the power of rolling itself up into a complete ball, 

 like the piU-millipedes of our own country, the wedge- 

 shaped head and tail fitting most perfectly side by side 

 into the deep notches of the front and hind shields. Thus 

 coiled up, the three-banded armadillo is safe from most 

 animals except man. Trusting in this immunity from 

 attack, this armadillo, together with two other species 

 inhabiting the Argentine, has become almost exclusively 

 diurnal in its habits. These diunial habits, as Mr. \\. H. 

 Hudson, in his charming work, " The Naturalist in La 

 Plata," suggests, may also have had the advantage of 

 avoiding any encounters with the larger animals of prey, 

 which are mostly nocturnal, and some of which may have 

 been able to break through the protecting armour, more 

 especially in the species which lack the power of rolling 

 themselves up. Whatever advantage may have formerly 

 accrued from these diurnal habits before the appearance 

 of man on the scene, is, however, now completely lost in 

 cultivated districts, where these species stand a good 

 chance of being completely exterminated by the hand of 

 man. 



On the other hand, the six-banded pelado, or hairy 

 armadillo, of the Argentine, which differs from its 

 cousins in preferring an omnivorous diet to one of insects, 

 is a far wiser beast in its generation. This creature, 

 according to Mr. Hudson, adapts itself to the conditions 

 under which it exists, and thus stands a good chance of 

 surviving when its fully-armoured relatives perish. " Where 

 nocturnal carnivores'are its enemies," writes the observer 

 mentioned, " it is diurnal : but where man appears as a 

 chief persecutor, it becomes nocturnal. It is much hunted 

 for its flesh, dogs being trained for the purpose ; yet it 

 actually becomes more abundant as population increases in 



any district." Another writer says that beneath any 

 decomposing carcase lying in the Argentine pampas, the 

 burrow of a pelado is almost sure to be found : and it is 

 not a little remarkable that the flesh of a creature which 

 has such unpleasant tastes in the matter of diet, should be 

 so eagerlj- sought after as an article of human consumption. 



Before taking leave of the pelado we must not omit to 

 mention two other peculiar habits which are recorded of it 

 by 'Sir. Hudson, since these also mark it as a creature far 

 above the generality of its kind in point of intelligence. 

 The first of these peculiarities is the ingenious way the 

 creature catches mice, by approaching them with extreme 

 caution, raising itself on its hind-quarters, and then 

 suddenly proceeding to "sit down'' on the unfortunate 

 rodents, which become entrapped under the projecting 

 edges of its armour. The sharp edges of the armour are 

 also brought into requisition when this armadillo attacks 

 a snake preparatory to devouring it ; the snake being 

 pressed close to the ground beneath the edges of the bony 

 plates, and literally sawn to death by means of a back- 

 wards-and-forwards motion of the body of its assailant. 



The largest of living armadillos is one which inhabits 

 the moist forests of Brazil and Surmam, and has a length 

 of about 30 inches, exclusive of the unusually long tail, 

 which is some '20 inches in length. These dimensions 

 were, however, vastly exceeded by some extinct armadillo- 

 like animals, of which the remains are found in the caverns 

 of BrazU. The most gigantic of these creatures, which 

 flourished during the pleistocene epoch — the period jitir 

 e.iYcUtnie of giant mammals — is estimated to have been 

 nearly equal in size to a rhinoceros, and has been named 

 the chlamydothere. The armour appears to have been 

 very like that of the true armadillos, but the bony plates 

 measured as much as five and six inches in length, in 

 place of little more than an inch. The teeth differed, 

 however, from the simple conical ones of the modern 

 armadillos, and more nearly resembled the vertically 

 fluted ones characteristic of the extinct glyptodonts. 

 Unfortunately, space does not admit of further reference to 

 the gigantic creatures fi'om the pleistocene of South 

 America, to which the latter name has been applied, all of 

 which are distinguished from the armadillos by the armour 

 of the body being welded into a single solid dome-like 

 shell, of which a specimen is figm'ed in the article on 

 '■ Mail-Clad Animals. ' 



Passing on to the animals whose name comes second in 

 the title of this article, we have first of all to mention that 

 the designations by which these creatures are commonly 

 known exhibit that remarkable want of originality in 

 nomenclature which appears to be characteristic of Euro- 

 peans when they are brought for the first time into contact 

 with hitherto unknown animals. Thus, whereas the Dutch 

 Boers of South Africa apphed to the creatures ui question 

 the title of " aard-vark " (meaning "earth-pig"), the 

 English colonists of the Cape commonly speak of them 

 as the ant-bear. Now, if there is any one particular 

 animal which the aard-vark (as we must perforce term 

 the creature) is unlike, it is a bear ; while its resemblance 

 to a pig is only of the most distant kind. StiD, however, 

 as in the case of the order to which it belongs, we must 

 be content to designate the animal by the name by which 

 it is most commonly known. 



In appearance, aard-varks, of which there are two species, 

 are decidedly ugly creatures, having thick ungainly 

 bodies, a long pointed snout, enormous erect ears, and 

 a thick cylindrical and tapering tail, nearly as long as 

 the body. The skin is either almost naked, or thinly 

 covered with bristle-like hairs. The fore feet have but 

 five toes, which are armed with broad and strong nails, as 



