VERTEBRATA: MAMMALIA. 6// 



animal is perfectly harmless and gentle, when unmolested, and 

 leads a solitary life. It lives mainly upon Termites, into the 

 nests of which it forces its way by means of the powerful claws. 

 When the Termites rush out to see what is the matter, the 

 Ant-eater captures them by thrusting out its glutinous tongue, 

 an action which can be repeated with marvellous rapidity. 



In the closely-allied genus Tamandua the feet are four-toed, 

 and the animal is arboreal in its habits, as is also the case with 

 the Cy dot hums. In the latter the fore-feet are two-toed, and 

 the hind-feet are four-toed, with a rudimentary hallux. In ac- 

 cordance with their mode of life these forms have prehensile 

 tails, and in the last-mentioned genus well-developed clavicles 

 are present. 



b. Manidce. This family includes only the Scaly Ant-eaters 

 or Pangolins, all exclusively confined to the Old World, and 

 found in both Africa and Asia. The whole of the body, limbs, 

 and tail in the Manidce is covered with an armour of horny 

 imbricated plates, overlapping like the tiles of a house, and 

 apparently consisting of agglutinated hairs. The legs are 

 short, and furnished with four or five toes each, ending in long 

 and strong digging-claws; but there are no clavicles. The 

 tongue resembles that of the Hairy Ant-eaters in being long 

 and contractile, and capable of being exserted for a consider- 

 able distance beyond the mouth. It is covered with a glutinous 

 saliva, and is the agent by which the animal catches ants and 

 other insects. The jaws are wholly destitute of teeth. When 

 threatened by danger, the Pangolins roll themselves up into a 

 ball, like the hedgehogs. The tail is comparatively long, and 

 is covered with scales. Though very strong for their size, 

 only one of the species ( M. gigantea, of Africa) attains a length 

 of more than three or four feet, inclusive of the tail. The 

 best-known species are the Manis pentadactyla of India, and 

 the Manis tetradactyla of Africa. Other species occur in Java, 

 Sumatra, and China. 



c. Oryderopidce. The last family of the living Edentata is 

 that of the Oryderopidce, comprising only the single genus 

 Oryderopus. This genus comprises two or three species, the 

 best known being O. capensis, which is peculiar to South Africa, 

 and is known by the Dutch colonists as the " Aardvark " or 

 Ground-hog. The animal is nocturnal in its habits, and lives 

 upon insects. The body is elongated, and the tail is long, the 

 species attaining a total length of four feet or more. The 

 zygomatic arch is complete. The legs are short, and the feet 

 plantigrade, the anterior pair having four unguiculate toes, the 

 posterior five. The claws are strong and curved, and enable 



