246 DR. J. E. GRAY ON MULETIA SEPTEMCINCTA. [Apr. 21, 



Mr. Martin, in the Society's ' Proceedings ' for 183", p. 13, on ac- 

 count of the unsatisfactory account of Dasypus hybridus (the Tatou 

 mulet) given in scientific works, gave a more complete description of 

 this species than he had previously met with, from a specimen presented 

 to the Society by Mr. C. Darwin ; and Darwin gives a good account 

 of the habits of the animal in the ' Voyage of the Beagle,' i. p. 92. 



I am inclined to form a genus for Dasypus septemcinctus, which 

 may be called Muletia, and characterized by the short tail, depressed 

 at its base, the small number of caudal vertebra and caudal rings, 

 and the small ears. 



I would divide the Tatusiidce thus : — 



I. Tail with smooth caudal rings. Hinder part of palate convex, 

 with a groove on each side, which is wider behind. 



1. Tatusia. Tail cylindrical, elongate, as long as or longer than 



the body, of many rings and numerous caudal vertebrae. Ears 

 large. Dorsal disk with 9-7 free bands. Tatusia peba &c. 



2. Muletia. Tail short, depressed at base, not so long as the 



body, with thirteen rings and thirteen caudal vertebrae. Ears 

 small. Dorsal disk with six free bands. Muletia septem- 

 cincta &c. 



II. Tail with the hinder edge of the tesserce of the basal caudal 

 rings prominent. Hinder part of the palate broad, concave, 

 with a raised edge on each side. 



3. Praopus. Tail about the length of the body, rather thick at 



the base. Praopus kappleri. 



In the ' Hand-list of Edentate, Thick-skinned, and Ruminant 

 Mammals in the British Museum,' I described seven species of 

 Tatusia and one of Praopus, and figured the skull of each of the 

 kinds ; but at that time the collection did not contain any specimen 

 of the Short-tailed Armadillo (Tatusia septemcincta) from Paraguay. 



The number of teeth seems to vary in this genus ; the skulls in 

 the Museum of T. peba (Hand-list, t. i. f. 1), T. leptorhinus (t. i. 

 f. 3), T. mexicana (t. ii. f. 3), and T. boliviensis (t. iii. f. 4) have 

 seven teeth on each side of the upper jaw. T. granadiana (t. ii. f. 1), 

 T. brevirostris (t. iii. f. 2), and T. leptocephala (t. v. f. 3) have 

 eight teeth on each side of the upper jaw, as is also the case with 

 Praopus kappleri (t. iv. f. 2 & 3). 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE XLI. 



Fig. 1. Vertebral column and pelvis of Muletia septemcincta. 



2. Upper surface of skull. 



3. Under surface of skull. 



4. Side view of skull. 



