CABASSOUS. 31 
tips of which some species walk, while the soles of the hind feet are 
placed flat upon the ground. The tongue is long, pointed and 
capable of being extended. 
Armadillos are harmless, nocturnal, and omnivorous, provided with 
numerous simple teeth that, excepting in one genus, are not shed. 
They are capable of running with considerable swiftness, and when 
frightened or attacked, they roll the body into a ball, presenting 
nothing but the bony armor to their enemies. 
Fam. Ill. Dasypodidze. Armadillos. 
Subfam. I. -Dasypodine. 
Head narrow; snout long, narrow, obliquely truncate; pterygoids 
meeting below nasal passage; ears long, ovate, erect, placed on 
occiput, contiguous; bony carapace covering the elongate, narrow 
body, having six to twelve movable rings on the center and sides; 
tail long, tapering, the dermal scutes forming distinct rings. Front 
feet with four toes, hind feet with five, the nails strong, curved 
pointed. 
11. Cabassous. 
fe, = 
or 2 = 22° OF 20; 
=: 9—9 ‘ . 
Cabassous McMurtrie, Cuv., Anim. King., 1, 1831, p. 164. Type 
Dasypus unicinctus Linneus. 
Xenurus, Wagl., Nat. Syst. Amph., 1830, p. 36. (nec Boie, Aves, 
1826.) 
Arizostus Glog., Hand-u. Hilfsb. Naturg. 1, 1841, pp. XXII, 114. 
Tatoua Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1865, p. 378. 
Intermediate bands, twelve, broader than long; fore feet with 
five toes; claws large, strong; tail long, tuberculate. 
Fic. XII. CABASSOUS CENTRALIS. MILLER’S ARMADILLO. 
