EDENTATA. 413 



tion. By Professor Owen it is regarded as being strictly car- 

 nivorous, and as finding its nearest living ally in the Thylacine. 

 The great feature in the dentition is the presence in either jaw 

 of one huge, compressed, and trenchant prsemolar. This is 

 regarded by Owen as a " carnassial ; " but Professor Flower, 

 with greater probability, regards it as corresponding to the 

 great cutting prsemolar of the Kangaroo-rats (Hypsiprymnus), 

 a view which is further borne out by the small size of the 

 canines in Thylacoleo. Upon the whole, therefore, Flower 

 concludes that " Thylacoleo is a highly-modified and aberrant 

 form of the type of Marsupials now represented by the Macro- 

 podidce and Phalangistidce, though not belonging to either of 

 these families as now restricted," and he believes that its diet 

 was of a vegetable nature. Under any view of its habits, 

 Thylacoleo is a very remarkable type of the Marsupials ; and it 

 must have attained a very great size, since the length of the 

 crown of the great praemolar is not less than two inches and a 

 quarter. 



ORDER III. EDENTATA, or BRUTA. The lowest order of the 

 placental or monodelphous Mammals is that of the Edentata, 

 often known by the name of Bruta. The name Edentata is 

 certainly not an altogether appropriate one, since it is only in 

 two genera in the order that there are absolutely no teeth. 

 The remaining members of the order have teeth, but these are 

 always destitute of true enamel, are never displaced by a 

 second set, and have no complete roots. Further, in none of 

 the Edentata are there any median incisors, and in only one 

 species (one of the Armadillos) are there any incisor teeth at 

 all. Canine teeth, too, are almost invariably wanting. Cla- 

 vicles are usually present, but are absent in the Scaly Ant- 

 eater (Mams). All the toes are furnished with long and 

 powerful claws. The mammary glands are usually pectoral, 

 but are sometimes abdominal in position. The testes are 

 abdominal in position. The skin is often covered with bony 

 plates or horny scales. 



The order Edentata is conveniently divided into two great 

 sections, in accordance with the nature of the food, the one 

 section being phytophagous, the other insectivorous. In the 

 former section is the single group of the Sloths (Bradypodidce). 

 In the latter are the two groups of the Armadillos (Dasypodidce), 

 and the various species of Ant-eaters (the latter constituting 

 Owen's group of the Edmtula). 



The Edentates, like the Marsupials, are singularly circum- 

 scribed at the present day. No member of the order is at the 

 present time indigenous in Europe. Tropical Asia and Africa 



