162 MAMMALIA. 
discovered in America, one of which, the MecaTurrium, 
Cuv. Oss. Foss. tom. v, parti, p. 174, has a head very similar to 
that of the Sloths, but deficient as to canini, and approaching 
in other parts of the skeleton, partly to the Sloths, and partly 
to the Ant-eaters. It is twelve feet long, and six or seven 
high. The other, the Mrcatonyx, Ib. p. 160, is rather 
smaller, and the toes are the only parts of it that are well 
known, but they strongly resemble those of the preceding. 
The second tribe comprehends the 
EDENTATA ORDINARIA. 
Or the Ordinary Edentata with a pointed muzzle. Some 
of them still have cheek teeth. They form two genera. 
Dasyrus, Lin. 
The Armadillos(1) are very remarkable among the Mammalia, by the 
scaly and hard shell formed of compartments resembling little paving 
stones, which covers their head and body, and frequently their tail. 
This substance forms one shield over the forehead, a second very 
large and convex over the shoulders, a third on the croup similar to 
the second, and between the two latter several parallel and movable 
bands, which allow the body to bend. The tail is sometimes fur- 
-nished with successive rings, and at others, like the legs, merely 
with tubercles. These animals have large ears, and sometimes four, 
and at others five great nails before, but always five behind. The 
muzzle is pointed, the grinders are cylindrical, seven or eight in 
number throughout, separated from each other, and without enamel 
onthe inside. The tongue is smooth, and but slightly extensible, 
and there are a few scattered hairs between their scales, or on those 
parts of the body not covered by the shell. They dig burrows, and 
live partly on vegetables, and partly on insects and dead bodies; 
their stomach is simple, and there is nocecum. They all belong 
to the hot, or at least to the temperate parts of America. 
They may be divided into subgenera from considerations drawn 
from the structure of their fore feet and the number of their teeth. 
Most of them have only four toes to the anterior feet, the two mid- 
dle ones of which are the longest. Of this number is the 
(1) Toetouw is their Brazilianname. The Spaniards called them Armadillo, from 
their armour; the Portuguese, Encuberio, for the samereason. They are also called 
quirquincho. Dasypus (hairy feet) was one of the Grecian appellatives of the 
Hare or Rabbit. 
