MYRJOOOPHAGHU 



-MAMMALIA. MYRMECOPHAGID.B. 



147 



THE SHORT-TAILED PANGOLIN (Manis penta- 

 dactyla), or BADGAREIT, is also known as the Broad- 

 tailed Manis, and is supposed to be the Phattagen 

 described by ^Elian. It is an inhabitant of the conti- 

 nent of India and Ceylon, and is the largest species at 

 present living. In the interior of Hindostan the natives 

 apply to it a number of curious names : thus, in the 

 Deccan, it is termed the " tiled-cat ;" elsewhere it is 

 called the " land-carp ;" and in Ceylon the " negumbo 

 devil." The body approaches four feet in length, 

 including the tail, which is not quite so long as the 

 body and head together. Although this animal is 

 very valuable as a destroyer of white ants and their 

 huge nests, it would appear from the observations of 

 travellers that the Badgareits are frequently subjected 

 to mere wanton cruelty on the part of the Asiatic 

 natives. 



THE LONG-TAILED PANGOLIN (Manis tetradactyla) 

 Plate 17, fig. 58 is so named on account of the 

 extraordinary development of the caudal extremity. It 

 is a small animal, about three feet in length at the most ; 

 but the tail is twice as long as the body, and contains 

 no less than forty-seven vertebral segments, while in 

 the animal above described there are only twenty-six 

 of these bones. This species, the scales of which are 

 black, and yellow at the margins, is a native o'f the 

 coast of Guinea. 



THE MANY SHIELDED PANGOLIN (Manis multi- 

 scutata), or PHATAGIN, has been thus named by Dr. 

 J. E. Gray, from the circumstance that the horny 

 scales forming its dermal armature are disposed in rows 

 varying from nineteen to twenty-one in number; whereas 

 in the two species above noticed, there are only eleven 

 rows. This species, the scales of which are small, of 

 a yellowish-grey colour, and three-pointed posteriorly, 

 is also a native of the coast of Guinea. 



TEMMINCK'S PANGOLIN (Manis Temmincki) is a 

 native of Southern Africa, being found to the north of 

 Cape Colony, in the neighbourhood of Mozambique, 

 and also in Sennaar. The body is rather more than 

 two feet in length, including the tail, which measures 

 about a foot. The scales are disposed in eleven rows, 

 the last four rows having only four scutes in each, while 

 those of the anterior series have five. It is a scarce 

 animal, its almost total extinction having been brought 

 about by a prevailing superstition among the natives 

 that it has some evil effect upon cattle. Accordingly, 

 when they catch any unfortunate Pangolin, they burn 

 it alive as an offering to the deity, in the hope that 

 some advantage may accrue to their flocks! It is, 

 however, a poor harmless little beast, feeding, like its 

 congeners, principally upon ants. 



FAMILY II. MYRMECOPHAGID^. 



Under this head are brought together the Ant-eaters 

 properly so called. They are distinguished from the 

 pangolins by the substitution of an abundant hairy fur 

 in place of the scaly covering above described. None 

 of the typical Ant-eaters display any organs of denti- 

 tion ; but in the aberrant genus Orycteropus, we find in 

 young individuals upwards of twenty molars. Usually 

 also the ears are short, rounded, and feebly developed ; 



but in the particular genus referred to they are long 

 and sharply pointed. The tail is of considerable 

 length in all the species. Another peculiarity of great 

 interest has reference to the feet ; for here we notice 

 in the fore-limbs that the ultimate phalanges of the 

 toes, which support the claws, are so constructed as to 

 allow the movements of the latter being restricted to 

 flexion inwards ; and in order to maintain this position, 

 there are powerful ligaments which keep the phalanges 

 directed towards the palm, and never allow the digits 

 to be stretched out in the manner of the plantigrade 

 carnivora. The relative size and strength of the toes 

 is also very significant, both in this family and in the 

 preceding; in those which have five toes the central 

 digit attains an enormous bulk, while the outer pair 

 are comparatively small. In order, moreover, to afford 

 adequate power for the digging and burrowing propen- 

 sities of these animals, the phalanges are all closely 

 connected together up to the base of the ultimate 

 phalanx, converting the hand into a sort of trowel 

 simDar to that found in moles. From, what has been 

 advanced, therefore, it will readily be remarked, that 

 the Ant-eaters do not walk on the soles of their feet ; 

 neither do they tread on their strongly-curved toes, 

 which would damage the claws, but, in the fore-feet 

 at least as may be seen by referring to the drawing 

 of the Great Ant-eater given in Plate 17, fig. 57 

 the anterior part of the body is seen to rest entirely 

 upon their outer edge ; and that part of the hands thus 

 subjected, as it were, to an unusual pressure, is in these 

 creatures supplied with an efficient callous pad to 

 protect the outer phalanges from injury. Another 

 circumstance in the organization of these creatures 

 which has especial claim upon our attention, is the 

 remarkable development of the anterior part of the 

 head, and the more than coextensive elongation of the 

 tongue. In the typical species this organ is rounded, 

 and marked by annulations which indicate the several 

 muscular rings entering into its composition; but in 

 the aberrant genus previously alluded to, the lingual 

 organ assumes a flattened form : in the typical species 

 it can be extended to nearly twice the length of the 

 head. Such, in brief, are the leading characteristics 

 of this singular family; all of them pointing to their 

 insectivorous habits, and demonstrating a special design 

 in their construction and adaptability to the mode of life 

 they lead. Having torn open the habitations of ants and 

 other nest-building insects, the swarming myriads issue 

 forth to give battle to the unceremonious intruder ; the 

 slimy and extensile organ is immediately presented to 

 the astonished crowd, who, collecting on the glutinous 

 appendage, are, within less than a second of time, drawn 

 within the capacious maw of the keen and small-eyed 

 myrmecophaga ! The typical species seem, in South 

 America where they alone occur to represent the 

 scaly pangolins of Asia and Africa; but the single 

 aberrant genus Orycleropus is a native of the last-named 

 continent. 



THE GREAT ANT-EATER (Myrmecophaga jubata) 

 Plate 17, fig. 57 is a native of Brazil, Surinam, 

 Columbia, Paraguay, and, in short, of all the tropical 

 districts of South America. By the English and Spanish 

 colonists it i?. known as the Ant-bear ; but one would 



