636 CHORDATA. 



entering the United States. The oldest fossils occur in the Santa 

 Cruz beds of Patagonia (eocene or oligocene). 



Sub Order I. NOMARTHRA. Old World edentates. FODIENTIA. 

 Animals with strong digging claws, long tail, and long, vermiform, sticky 

 tongue used in catching ants and other insects. Orycteropus capensis, 

 aardvark, with long snout, sparse bristly hair, five small molars, and 

 rudimentary milk dentition. SQUAMATA. Toothless, body covered with 

 overlapping scales. Manis, pangolins of Asia and Africa (fig. 660). 



FIG. 660. Manis longicaiidata, pangolin. (From Monteiro.) 



Sub Order II. XENARTHRA. Edentates of the New World. VER- 

 MILINGrUIA, ant eaters. Resemble manids in toothless jaws, long ant- 

 catching tongues, and strong digging claws, but are hairy and lack scales. 

 Myrmecophaga. TARDIG-RADA, sloths. Hairy, head short, rudimentary 

 tail, and few teeth, long strong claws by which they hang back down- 

 wards from limbs of trees. Bradypus tridactylus, nine cervical verte- 

 brae ; Cholcepus, six cervicals. Fossils allied are Megatherium, as large 

 as an elephant, Mylodon, Megalonyx, these two extending north to Penn- 

 sylvania. LORICATA, armadillos. Body with armor of bony plates, 

 molars numerous ; insectivorous. In the extinct GLYPTODONTID^E of South 

 America the plates fused to a continuous armor. One species twelve feet 

 long. One species may have occurred in Europe. DASYPODID.E ; dermal 

 armor in three or more movable transverse plates ; nocturnal. Genera 

 based upon the number of bands: Dasypus, Xenurus ; Tacusia novem- 

 cincta * enters United States. 



Order II. Insectivora. 



These primitive forms have a complete dentition, all the differ- 

 ent kinds of teeth being present, although they vary in number. 

 The roots are developed early and consequently the teeth are small. 

 Since they end with sharp cusps, adapted for eating insects, they 

 resemble the carnivores, from which they may be distinguished by 



