426 TOOTHLESS ANIMALS 



Boers, indeed, gave the name < Earth-pig' to the Cape 

 Aard-vark, not only on account of its appearance, but 

 also because of its confirmed habit of deep burrowing. 

 To complete the appropriateness of the name, it may be 

 mentioned that the hindquarters of the animal are cured in 

 the same manner as hams, and are almost, if not quite, 



equally esteemed. 



Although the Aard- 

 vark does not possess 

 such claws as the 

 Tamanoir, it is a capital 

 burrower, and in an 



SKULL o7 T HE CAPE ANT-EATER. incredibly short time it 



can bury its body even 



in sun-baked earth. During the day it remains in its 

 burrow, but at night it sets out to attack the nests of ants 

 and termites. It is an exceedingly shy and retiring animal, 

 and for a long time naturalists could obtain but little 

 definite knowledge of its habits. An Ethiopian species 

 possesses a still longer head and ears and a thicker coating 

 of hair. It gives birth to but a single young one at a 

 time, which it suckles for quite a long period. 



FAMILY MANIOC (PANGOLINS). 

 PANGOLIN (Manis longicaudd). 

 Coloured Plate XXXI. Fig. 3. 



The Pangolins are restricted to Asia and Africa. The 

 figured specimen represents the characteristics of the species 

 found in either continent. They are armoured, not with 

 plates, but with overlapping scales like the tiles upon the 

 roof of a house ; or, as a writer picturesquely expresses it, 

 they resemble ' an animated spruce-fir cone furnished with 

 a head and legs/ 



These scaly Ant-eaters are toothless, and possess the 

 typical extensile tongue of the Edentates, and their feet 

 are armed with excellent burrowing claws. Ants are their 

 staple food. Stones are very often found in the stomach of 



