THE WADSWOPtTH GALLERY. 



9r 



its food with its lips and tongue. All the Pleistocene Armadillos had fluted 

 teeth, and were phytophagous : the modern species, except the Apara of the 

 Pampas, are carnivorous. The tail had its independent osseous sheath, sup- 

 ported by the vertebrae within, and was well suited to strike a severe blow. 

 The femur is flattened in front and behind, and widens out laterally as in 



the Megatherium. 



The tibia and fibula'^ are soldered together, and, 

 with the massive club-like foot, formed a firm sup- 

 port while the creature used its forelegs. The heavy- 

 tail served, at the same time, as a prop or an anchor. 



Lying on the same pedestal arc the tails of the Glyptodon clavioaudatus 

 and G. clavipes ;^ the latter showing the vertebrae at the upper end, and 

 exemplifying finely the relation of the endo- and cxo-skeletons. They are 

 each three leet Ions;. 



Diiiotlieriiim gioaiiteum. 



On the left of the observer, as he faces the Megatherium, are the largest 

 fossil skulls thus far discovered. The one whose enormous down-curving 

 tusks remind one of the Walrus, belongs to the Dinotherium giganieum.^ 

 The original was discovered by Dr. Klipstein, near Eppelsleim, in a bed 

 of sand and marl of the Miocene Tertiary containing marine shells, and is 

 now preserved in the Museum at Darmstadt. It was first described by Prof. 

 Kaup. The teeth had previously been found in France, Bavaria and Austria; 

 and, from their close analogy with those of the Tapir, were described by 

 CuviER as belonging to an extinct colossal animal of that genus. Fragments 

 of the same mammal have been discovered also in America in the Miocene 

 deposits of Perim island, Grulf of Cumbay, and in Tertiary formation lime- 

 stone at the foot of the Pyrenees. The remains are associated with the 

 Hippopotamus, Ehinoceros, Mastodon, Pala3otherium, Anoplotherium, 

 Machairodus, Horse, Ox, Antelope, Ape, Hog, Dog, Wolf, Cat, Lcauiantine, 

 Morse, Seacalf and Dolphin, all of extinct species. 



The skull is three feet eight inches in length : it is characterized by a 

 very flat occipital bone (approximating in form the occiput of Cetacea), largo 

 nasal aperture opening above, and large suborbital fossa), which, together 

 with the form of the nose, seem to indicate the presence of a short proboscis. 

 Ths teeth |^-| are all molars, and belong to the bilophodont or two-ridged 

 type, as in the Tapir, Megatherium, Kangaroo and Manatee. The largo 

 deflected tusks are, iu fact, two huge recurved incisors implanted in a pro- 



