246 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



Wm 



GREAT ANT-EATER. 



SOME VERY ODD MAMMALS 



CROM an educational standpoint, the Small- 

 •^ Mammal House is one of the most impor- 

 tant installations in the Zoological Park. In this 

 building are grouped representative species of a 

 greater number of the orders of mammals than are 

 to be in any other building. At the present time, 

 this collection contains species representing six 

 different orders — the Ferae or Carnivora, Glires or 

 Rodentia, Ungidata, MarsiipiaUa, Edentata, and 

 Monotremata. 



It is among the lower orders of animals that we 

 find the species that are most interesting for a 

 small-mammal house. With the Marsupials is 

 included the group of kangaroos, which, when the 

 development of the front and hind limbs is com- 

 pared, appear like two-legged creatures. The 

 order of Edentates comprises the practically tooth- 

 less species, some of which have slender tongues of 

 nearly half the length of the body, which are em- 

 ployed in dragging ants from their burrows. The 

 lowest order of mammals — Ihe M onotremata — is 



possibly the most remarkable, for the three species 

 composing it lay eggs, and hatch them like birds. 

 Anatomically, however, these creatures actually 

 appear to be more closely allied to the reptiles than 

 to the class which succeeds the mammals in regular 

 order — the birds. Two vigorous examples of this 

 interesting order are on exhibition in the Small- 

 Mammal House. The collection of Edentates is 

 also strong in species. As these creatures are among 

 the most peculiar of the inmates of the Small- 

 Mammal House, their habits, as we have observed 

 them, are well worthy of note. 



The great ant-eater or ant-'' bear" (Myrinc- 

 cophaga jiibata) is the most interesting species of 

 the Edentata. The specimen at the Park, al- 

 though but two-thirds grown, is in perfect pelage 

 and is a very showy creature. 



Like many of those forms of animal life that 

 evolution has manipulated into grotesque form, 

 this is a deUcate species in captivity. With all 

 delicate animals the change from a wild state to 



