Soo 



MANUAL OF ZOOLOGY. 



name of "Sloth" may thus appear to be a merited one from 

 the point of view of a terrestrial Mammal, it is wholly unde- 

 served when the animal is looked upon as especially adapted 

 for an arboreal existence. 



The second family of the Edentata is that of the Dasypodida 

 or Armadillos. These are found exclusively in South America, 

 as are the Sloths, but they are very different in their habits. 

 The Armadillos are burrowing animals, furnished with strong 

 digging-claws and well-developed collar-bones. The jaws are 

 provided with numerous simple molars, which attain the enor- 

 mous number of nearly one hundred in the great Armadillo 

 (Dasypus gigas). The upper surface of the body is covered 

 with a coat of mail, formed of hard bony plates or shields, 

 united at their edges. A portion of this armour covers the 

 head and shoulders, and another portion protects the hind- 

 quarters; whilst between these is a variable number of movable 

 bands which run transversely across the body, and give the 

 necessary flexibility to this singular dermoskeleton. In some 

 species this flexibility is so great that the animal can roll itself 

 up like a hedgehog. The tail is likewise covered with bony scutes. 



Fig. 191. Chlamyphorus truncatus. 



The Armadillos are confined entirely to South America, 

 ranging from Mexico to Patagonia. In this country, also, 

 have been found the remains of a gigantic armour-plated 

 animal allied to the Armadillos, which will be subsequently 

 described under the name of the Glyptodon. 



The remaining members of t\\t Edentata are the various Ant- 

 eaters, but these are so different from one another in their char- 



