376 TROPICAL AMERICA AND ITS ANIMALS 



able for its manner of walking, the fore-legs touching the ground only by the tips 

 of their claws, a circumstance all the more singular since the toes are of unequal 

 lengths. The third toe is even more strongly developed than that of the great 

 armadillo, while the first and fifth have either very small claws or none at all. 



Very different from all other armadillos is the peba (Tatusia novemcincta) 

 conspicuous on account of its closely approximated mule-like ears, and further dis- 

 tinguished by certain peculiarities connected with its dentition and other parts of 

 its structure. The range of this species extends from Paraguay to Texas ; an allied 

 form is the mulita (T. hybrida) of Argentina and other parts of South America, 

 and another is the shaggy armadillo (T. pilosa) of Peru, in which the whole body, 

 except the head, is so densely covered with light brown hair that it looks like an 

 ordinary soft-skinned animal. 



More remarkable than all is the fairy armadillo or pichiciago (Chlamydophorus 

 truncatus), distinguished not only by its diminutive size but by the peculiar form 

 and structure of the cuirass. In conformity with its burrowing habits, the pichi- 

 ciago has the body much narrower in front than behind. The broad disk-like 

 hinder end of the body, which seems to be used for ramming down the earth to 

 stop the entrance of the hole, is formed of bony plates closely joined in rows of 

 different sizes, and covered with thin horny shields, these making an almost per- 

 pendicular buckler, at the lower corner of which is situated the stumpy tail. Besides 

 this posterior buckler, the pichiciago carries on its back a mantle-like cuirass 

 commencing at a point close above the nose and gradually widening as it extends 

 backwards. This mantle is fastened to the skull, but is connected with the body 

 merely down the middle of the back so that it only loosely covers the hairy sides. 



Pichiciagos inhabit sand-hills covered with cactus plants or thorn-bushes in 

 western Argentina, and are most common in the neighbourhood of Mendoza, although 

 seldom seen. The larger pichiciago (C. retusus) is an even scarcer species, inhabiting 

 Bolivia, and distinguished from its smaller relative by the mantle being completely 

 joined to the body, a circumstance which has led to its being regarded as the 

 representative of a second genus. 



The sloths, which form the second family of edentates, inhabit 

 those parts of South and Central America in which the moisture of 

 the air, and accordingly the development and abundance of vegetation, are at 

 their highest. The darker and more impenetrable the forests, the more are they 

 inhabited by sloths, which are so thoroughly arboreal that they never, or only in 

 case of need, descend to the ground. They are indeed able to touch the ground only 

 with the outer edges of their feet, and are hopelessly awkward out of their native 

 trees. Some travellers describe these animals as comparatively agile, and during the 

 twilight and at night, when they are most lively, they may perhaps travel some 

 distance, yet they are regarded as types of laziness by the natives, although their 

 exceedingly slow movements are very likely due to extreme caution. A sloth 

 moving slowly from branch to branch is a most peculiar sight. It never leaves 

 go one branch before it has firmly clutched the next, and for a long time fumbles 

 about in the air with its feet in order to get a firm hold for them. When asleep, 

 sloths roll themselves up into a ball, and cling to the branches, with the head 

 between the front-legs, and the legs in a position similar to that of the potto, a 



