﻿72 DR. J. MURIE ON THE THREE-BANDED ARMADILLO. 



tates, and in his series of splendid monograplis Las shed a lialo of honour on the institu- 

 tion with which he is connected. Lon^ may this tried sarnnt be spared to continue the 

 good work ! 



live Armadillos are far from uncommon in the menageries of this country ; never- 

 theless few, if indeed any, of the three-handed species Lavo hitherto been imported, 

 except the subject of the present sketch. Its rarity is equalled by its being one of the 

 most interesting forms of the group. Of the organization of the species, save carapace 

 and skeleton, in part, there is, I believe, no published record. To make good this gap in 

 the literatm-e of the Edentates is the object of the paper now laid before the Fellows of 

 the Linnean Society. 



The animal, a full-grown male, was received by the Zoological Society, in exchange, 

 March 4th, 1865 ; and it lived and was exhibited in the Resrent's Park Gardens until 

 June 8th 1866. Por a considerable time it was kept in one of the monkey-cages along 

 with some other species of the Armadillo tribe. This afforded a good opportunity for 

 watching and comparing the habits of the different kinds. 



The deportment of the conmioner species, the Weasel-headed Armadillo {Basypus sex- 

 cinctus) and the Peba {Tatusia peba), is in many ways very different from the Mataco or 

 Three-banded Armadillo {Toli/peutes conurus). This contrast is the more marked, seeing 

 that the bodies of the two former are (one would suppose from the number of their 

 movable zones) better adapted for bemg coiled together than is that of the more rigid- 

 shielded latter ammal. Be this as it may, when in confinement the following peculi- 

 arities are very evident. 



The Peba and Encoubert are by no means sluggish animals, which their heavy and 

 squat figure seems to betoken. In the large cage they walk and amble about generally as 

 if intently tracking some faint scent or searching for earth-hidden edible treasure ; hither 

 and thither they wander, carrymg their head down-fixed and sniffing, their tail almost 

 trailing on the ground behind, and their stout somewhat waddling body supported on 

 the full length of the soles of their feet. 



Kot so Tolypeutes ; for his is the active sprightly gait of a Hght-footed messenger, in 

 spite of more solid cuirass. The body is more lofty and narrow, the legs longer, slenderer, 

 and the fore ones with immense nails. The tail usually hangs perpendicularly, and dis- 

 tant from the ground, as is the head. But, strangest of all, he poises himself on tiptoe, 

 and, as if on hasty errand, trips trot, trot forwards and trot, trot backwards, ever speeding 

 m ceaseless journey. 



The commoner Armadillos seem heavier sleepers during the daytime than is the three- 

 banded species. The latter, as I shaU more particularlv describe, at such times rolls 

 itselt mto a ball ; the former bend themselves snugly together, but without assuming a 



spherical figiure. & .7 o 



h.^i.^n^/"'^"''' *^' '^""^ ^''^^ ^^^ S^^^^ to ail-namely, bits of raw chopped meat, 

 rf V tf\ ^""^ ^'"^^ ^^^ ^^- These they appear to relish and thrive on. I« 

 Tain f. . . ^y '"^P^"^ *^' *"^^^« ^^^^' '^^^^^ is rapidly protruded and with- 



Sr.t rt .t"' "^"^ '' ^^^^^^ ^*^ -^tl^-S lite the elongate thrust and spiral 



recoil peculiar to %rm€coi)%a. ^ 



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