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TROPICAL AMERICA AND ITS ANIMALS 



so rapidly that a man cannot dismount in time to catch one before it disappears. 

 By means of their strong claws armadillos dig for their food, which consists of ants, 

 termites, and other insects, as well as worms and snails, and occasionally carrion. 

 Ants and other insects cling to the sticky, protrusile tongue, and are drawn with it 

 into the mouth. Armadillos are protected from their enemies by means of a cuirass 

 of bony plates covered with horny shields arranged in such a way as to leave 

 room for hairs to grow between. The more typical armadillos are characterised 





CARPINCHOS 



by having a number of movable rows of plates between the front and hind part 

 of the cuirass, as well as by their large ears, standing well apart from each other, 

 and by the slenderness or absence of claws on the first and second fore-toes. In 

 the typical genus the number of movable bands is usually six or seven but some- 

 times eight. Perhaps the most remarkable species is the peludo, or hairy armadillo 

 (Dasypus villosus) of Argentina, on account of the variety of its diet and the way in 

 which this is obtained. The peludo searches for insects, which form its principal 

 food, by running along with its nose close to the ground, like a dog, and when 

 hunting for larvae or worms some inches below the surface, burrows nearly circular, 



