NO. 5 MAMMALS OF PANAMA GOLDMAN 05 



"The Ant-Bear 1 is a four-footed Beast, as big as a pretty large 

 Dog, with rough black-brown Hair : It has short Legs ; a long Nose 

 and little Eyes; a very little Mouth, and a slender Tongue like an 

 Earthworm about five or six Inches long. This Creature feeds on 

 Ants ; therefore you always find them near an Ants Nest or Path. 

 It takes its Food thus : It lays its Nose down flat on the Ground ; 

 close by the Path that the Ants travel in, (whereof here are many in 

 this Country) and then puts out its Tongue athwart the Path: the 

 Ants passing forwards and backwards continually, when they come 

 to the Tongue, make a stop, and in two or three Minutes time it will 

 be covered all over with Ants ; which she perceiving, draws in her 

 Tongue and then eats them; and after puts it out again to trapan 

 more. They smell very strong of Ants, and taste much stronger ; for 

 I have eaten of them. I have met with these creatures in several 

 places of America, as well as here; (i. e., in the Sambaloes [Islands 

 in Gulf of San Bias, Panama.]) and in the South Seas, on the 

 Mexican Continent" Bates 2 relates how the great anteater, when 

 attacked by a dog, may inflict severe wounds with the powerful claws 

 with which the fore feet are armed. 



Alston (1879, p. 192) mentions a specimen received by Messrs. 

 Salvin and Godman from their collector, Enrique Arce, while work- 

 ing in Veragua. A specimen recorded by Bangs (1902, p. 20) was 

 taken by W. W. Brown, Jr., at Divala, Chiriqui. Comparison of 

 rather scanty material in the principal American museums indicates 

 that the Central American great anteater is closely allied to the 

 South American form. 



Specimens examined: Divala, 1 8 ; Gatun, 1. 



Family DASYPODIDAE. Armadillos 



The armadillos, like the sloths, are by no means toothless, as the 

 appellation of the order to which they belong indicates. The bony 

 carapace, or protective armor covering the exposed parts, at once 

 distinguishes them from all other American mammals. Two species 

 representing different genera and subfamilies inhabit the region 

 under consideration. 



Subfamily DASYPODINAE. Four-toed Armadillos 



The subfamily Dasypodinae forms a well-marked division with 

 only four toes on the fore foot. The head is narrow, the ears close 

 together, and the snout long and slender. The tail is about as long 



1 Dampier's Voyage, Vol. 2, p. 60, 1698. 



2 Naturalist on the Amazons, Vol. 1, 1863, p. 177. 

 * Collection Mus. Comp. Zool. 



