CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 8. EDENTATA. 



461 



ORYCTEROPCS CAPENSIS, OR AARD-VARK, AMONG THE" ANT-HILLS. 



ORDER 8. EDENTATA. 



The word Edentata is derived from the Latin, and signifies without teeth; hence its applica- 

 tion to this remarkable order, whose distinguishing characteristic is the total absence of the inci- 

 sor teeth in all the species, with the exception of one Armadillo, in which a single tooth is found 

 in each intermaxillary bone, but placed so completely at the sides, that the front of the mouth 

 is quite destitute of teeth. The canine teeth are also deficient in most of the species, and some 

 are even destitute of molars, so that the jaws exhibit no trace of teeth. The teeth that do exist 

 are exceedingly simple in their construction and quite destitute of roots, and the formation of 

 all the teeth is very similar. The structure of the skeleton varies considerably according to the 

 particular habits of the animals ; in some it is adapted for terrestrial progression, while in others 

 it is remarkably fitted for climbing upon trees. The toes are furnished with very long and pow- 

 erful curved claws. The skin is sometimes covered with hair, sometimes with horny or even bony 

 scales or plates; the external ear is frequently Avanting, and the tail varies greatly in its develop- 

 ment, being sometimes of great length, sometimes rudimentary. The mammae are two in num- 

 ber, and placed on or near the breast, and with the exception of the Armadillos, the species always 

 produce a single young one at a birth. 



The Edentata are all confined to the tropical parts of the world, and principally to the southern 

 hemisphere. They are sluggish animals, for the most part nocturnal in their habits; some of them 

 live upon vegetable and some upon animal food; the former are arboreal in their habits, while 

 the latter are terrestrial, and generally burrow in the earth. They are mostly of small or mod 

 erate size; but the remains of some gigantic extinct species have been found in South America, 

 which is the country in which the existing Edentata most abound. These are grouped in five 

 families, as follows: the Bradypides, the Dasypides, the Orycteropides^Q Myrmecophagides^ and 

 the Man ides. 



THE BRADYPIDES, OR SLOTHS. 



In these animals, which are found only in the hottest parts of South America, the head is 

 small and rounded, and the jaws short, so that the face projects very little in front of the cranium. 



