326 



VERTEBRATE ANIMALS. 



and well - developed collar - bones. The jaws are provided with 

 numerous simple molars (fig. 230, B), which attain the enormous 

 number of nearly one hundred in the Great Armadillo {Dasypus 

 gigas). The upper surface of the body is covered with a coat of 

 mail, formed of hard bony plates or shields united at their edges. 

 A portion i>f this armour covers the head and shoulders, and an- 

 other portion protects the hind-quarters ; whilst between these is 

 generally a variable number of movable bands which run trans- 

 versely across the body and give the necessary flexibility to this 

 .singular integumentary skeleton. In most species this flexibility 

 is so great that the animal can roll itself up like a hedgehog. 



The remainincf South American Edentate-? are the Hairy Ant- 

 c;iters, (»f which the lifst known i.s the Gieat Ant-eatei' [M ijj'in<.'<:tj- 



Fig. '2^2.—Manupantadactyla, one of the Scaly Ant-ealers or Pangolii).s, 

 showing the armour of horny plates. 



phaga juhata). The body in this family is covered with hair, the 

 tail is lor.g, and the teeth are altogether wanting. They feed 

 chiefly upon ants and termites, which they catch by protruding 

 their long and sticky tongues, having previously broken into the 

 nest by means of their strong curved claws. 



The Edenti-itii. are represented in the Old World by only two 

 genera. One of these is the genus Manis, comprising the Scaly 

 Ant-eaters or Pangolins, which are exclusively confined to Asia and 

 Africa. In these singular animals (fig. 232) the body and tail are 

 covered by a flexible armour, composed of horny plates or scales 

 overlapping like the tiles of a roof. The other genus is Ori/i-teroptis, 

 comprising only the so-called Ground Hog of South Africa; which 

 alstj lives upon insects, and burrows by means of its strong digging- 

 claws. 



