98 OSTEOLOGICAL GALLERY. 



The Myrmecophagida, or Anteaters, differ from the Sloths by 

 their drawn-out snouts, entire want of teeth, elongate palate-bones, 

 and long slender lower jaws. The most remarkable species is the 

 Great Anteater (Myrmecophaga jubata), an animal with a long 

 narrow head, about a foot in length, the greater part of which is 

 made up by the maxillary bones. There are no zygomatic arches 

 to the skull, but little biting-power being needed. The clavicles 

 are exceedingly rudimentary. 



In the third family of Edentates, or Armadilloes (Dasypodida) , ' 

 teeth are present, generally f^r x ^ = ^^ to ^ ^ n numDer ; but in 

 the Giant Armadillo amounting to ^f X 2 = 80 to ]00. These 

 teeth are small and simple, with single roots. In the genus 

 Tatusia a set of functional double-rooted milk-teeth precedes the 

 simple one-rooted permanent ones, and traces of a milk-dentition 

 have also been found in Dasypus. Zygomatic arch complete. 

 Second and third, and often several of the other cervical vertebrae 

 ankylosed together. The clavicles are well developed, and the 

 whole anterior limb is enormously strengthened to support the 

 huge digging-claws. The pelvis (as in the Sloths and Anteaters) 

 is ankylosed to the vertebral column both by the ilia and ischia, 

 and in one genus (Chlamydophorus) the dermal bony shield is 

 united to the pelvis by vertical pillars. 



The fossil forms referable to the Dasypodidce, mostly found in 

 the Pleistocene deposits of South America, are both numerous and 

 interesting, many of them showing relations with still existing 

 genera, while others, notably the huge Glyptodons (see Geol. 

 Guide, p. 70), of which five genera are known, present characters so 

 peculiar as to necessitate their being placed in a separate family. 



Of the Old-World Edentates, the Pangolins, or Manidce, are 

 characterized by their entire want of teeth, elongated skulls, which 

 are without zygomata, slender jaws, and by their long powerful 

 tails, of which the vertebrae, numbering from 28 to 46, are provided 

 with large chevron bones. The sternum is produced backwards 

 nearly to the pubis, and the retractor muscles of the tongue are 

 attached to its posterior part. There are no clavicles. 



A few traces of fossil Pangolins have been found in the lower 

 Pliocene of India and the island of Samos. 



