EDENTATA. 



53 



and the ponderous rhinoceros of the present 

 world. 



There is still another very interesting animal, 

 the account of whose osteology I have not in- 

 termixed with that of the other Edentata, be- 

 cause it is as yet but little known, and because 

 its peculiarities are particularly interesting. 

 This is the Chlamyphorus truncatus (fig. 38) of 

 Dr. Harlam, of which I have the opportunity of 



animals belonging to the same order, f o the 

 Echidna and Ornithorynchus it is also similar 

 in the first bone of the sternum, and in the 

 bony articulations as well as the dilated con- 

 necting plates of the true and false ribs. 



" In the form of the lower jaw, and in other 

 points equally obvious, the Chlamyphorus ex- 

 hibits characters to be found in some species 

 of Ruminantia and Pachydermata. On 



38. 



Skekton of the Chlamyphorus truncatus. 



offering a very correct figure, for which I am 

 indebted to the kindness of my friend Mr. 

 Yarrell. This very remarkable animal was 

 discovered in the interior of Chili, burrowing 

 like the mole, and like that animal residing 

 principally underground. The detail of its 

 organization will be found, as given by Mr. 

 Yarrell, in the third volume of the Zoolo- 

 gical Journal, to which I refer. The general 

 results of that gentleman's observations are as 

 follow : 



" It has much less real resemblance to the 

 mole, Talpa Europea, than its external form 

 and subterranean habits would induce us to 

 expect. In the shortness and great strength of 

 the legs, and in the articulation of the claws to 

 the first phalanges of the toes, it is similar ; but 

 in the form of the bones of the anterior extre- 

 mity, as well as in the compressed claws, it is 

 perfectly different ; nor do the articulations of 

 the bones nor the arrangement of the muscles, 

 allow any of the lateral motion so conspicuous 

 in the mole. The hinder extremities of the 

 Chlamyphorus are also much more powerful. 



" It resembles the Bradypus tridactylus in the 

 form of the teeth, and in the acute descending 

 process of the zygoma, but here all comparison 

 with the Sloth ceases. 



" The skeleton of the Chlamyphorus will be 

 found to resemble that of the Armadillo (Dasypi 

 species plures) more than any other known 

 quadruped. In the peculiar ossification of the 

 cervical vertebrae ; in possessing the sesamoid 

 bones of the feet ; in the general form of all 

 the bones, except those of the pelvis, as well as 

 in the nature of the external covering, they are 

 decidedly similar; they differ however in the 

 form and appendages of the head, in the com- 

 position and arrangement of the coat of mail, 

 and particularly in the posterior truncated ex- 

 tremity and tail. 



" There is a resemblance to be perceived in 

 the form of some of the bones of the Chlamy- 

 phorus to those of the Orycteropus capcnsis and 

 Munnecophaga jubata, as might be expected in 



this sketch of its relations it is unnecessary 

 to dilate. Its near affinity to the genera Dasy- 

 pus and Tatusia however is so obvious that 

 there can be no doubt of the propriety of con- 

 sidering it as belonging to the same family of 

 the order ; whilst its relation to the mole can 

 of course only be considered as one of analogy, 

 in which respect it offers many interesting 

 characters.'' 



Digestive organs. In the character of these 

 organs there is no less diversity between the 

 Tardigrada and the Edentata proper than in 

 the osteology already described. The former, 

 essentially herbivorous, yet living principally 

 upon the young succulent leaves which clothe 

 the extremities of the branches, have the teeth 

 formed for bruising this kind of nourishment, 

 and an articulation of the lower jaw which 

 allows of a degree of motion commensurate 

 with the object. The teeth consist of a cylinder 

 of bone enclosed within a simple case of 

 enamel, but without any of the convolutions 

 of these two substances which characterize the 

 structure of these organs in the Ruminantia 

 and other graminivorous animals. They are 

 in fact the most simple which are found in 

 any of the Mammijera. There is a single 

 canine on each side above and below, both 

 in the Unau, but none in the Ai. 



In one form of the Armadillos, the genus 

 Dasupus as now restricted, there are two in- 

 cisive teeth in the upper and four in the lower 

 jaw, and sixteen molares in each. In the 

 allied genus Tatusia there are no incisive or 

 canine teeth, and the molares are even rather 

 more numerous, and in the Priodonta Gigas 

 there are no less than fifty in the upper and 

 forty-eight in the lower jaw. These are all 

 simple, and formed for crushing insects. 



The stomach in the Sloths is very remarkably 

 formed. In the Bradypus didactylus (Jig. 39) it 

 is double. The first is large and rounded, con- 

 tracted posteriorly, and produced into a conical 

 appendix, which is doubled from the left to 

 the right, and its cavity is separated from that 



