258 



TYPES OF ANIMAL LIFE 



is therefore necessary that the muscles of the chest 

 should be largely developed, and in order that there 

 should be more space for such muscles, the breast develops 

 a keel, as it also does in the mole and in bats, and to a 

 very much greater extent, in birds — as every one who has 

 carved a fowl must know. 



The largest of the armadillos — the priodon — measures 

 a yard from snout to tail root, and the tail itself is twenty 

 inches long. It is found in the forests of Surinam and 

 Brazil, and has very powerful claws. It is accused of 

 burrowing in graveyards and feeding on dead bodies, but 



Fig. 71, 



J 



THE APAR ARMADDILLO. 



it lives principally on white ants and other insects. It 

 has no less than from twelve to thirteen movable bands 

 interposed between its anterior and posterior body-shields. 

 Another kind known as the apar has but three movable 

 bands, but it can roll itself up very perfectly. Darwin 

 tells us : 



" It has the power of rolling itself up into a perfect 

 sphere, like one kind of English woodlouse. In this 

 state it is safe from the attack of dogs, for the dog not 

 being able to take the whole in its mouth, tries to bite 

 one side, and the ball slips away. The smooth, hard 

 covering offers a better defence than the sharp spines of 

 the hedgehog." 



