THE SLOTH 259 



Armadillos dwell in the open plains and also in the 

 forests of South America, but one kind, the peba or nine- 

 banded armadillo, ranges from Paraguay to Texas. The 

 commonest kind is the six-banded armadillo, or encou- 

 bert, which inhabits Brazil and Paraguay, and allied 

 forms, more or less hairy, are found south of the Rio 

 de la Plata, and another still more hairy species is found 

 in Peru. 



A small, very rare, and peculiar kind, is the pichiciago, 

 of which one variety is found in the Argentine Republic, 

 and another in Bolivia. Its bony plates are very thin 

 and delicate, and form no solid shield over either the 

 shoulders or the haunches. The horny covering of the 

 Argentine species is of a pinkish colour, and the animal 

 has snow-white, silky hair. 



All the armadillos have simple teeth, and the number 

 on each side of either jaw may vary from seven to five- 

 and-twenty. 



Very different from the armadillos of America, are the 

 pangolins of the Old World, although they also are pro- 

 tected by a dense and strong external armature. Their 

 skin, however, contains no bony plates ; their body being 

 covered and protected, except on its under surface, by 

 large, close-set, horny, over-lapping scales, amongst which 

 grow a few hairs. Indeed, the scales themselves — strong 

 and dense as they are, with sharp cutting edges — are 

 really composed of hairs cemented together. The limbs 

 are short, but the tail is moderately, or greatly, elongated 

 according to the species, of which there are some seven 

 kinds. One African kind, appropriately called the long- 

 tailed manis, has a greater number of bones in its tail 

 than has any other beast — namely forty-nine. Pangolins 

 can roll themselves up into a ball, when the sharp edges 

 of their scales standing more or less out on all sides. 



