MAMMALIA— ORDER IX.— EDENTATA. 



alike on the grassy pampas of Buenos Aires, the sandy plains of Mendoza, 

 and the tropical forests of Brazil. While a few are diurnal, the majority are 

 nocturnal in their habits, and all are burrowers. In many districts the Argen- 

 tine pampas is perfectly honeycombed with the long burrows of various kinds 

 of armadillos. Armadillos live chiefly upon insects, worms, and molluscs, but 

 one species at least feeds largely upon carrion, although this is probably an 

 acquired habit, due to the large number of carcases of horses and cattle which 

 nowadays strew the pampas. In their movements they are extremely swifb, 

 starting off with a tremendous rush when disturbed while feeding at night, 

 and requiring a good dog to keep pace with them. Whereas some species 

 run on the tips of their claws, with the body raised high above the ground, 

 others carry the carapace lower. The rapidity with which an armadillo will 

 bury itself in the sof b ground of the Argentine pampas must be witnessed to 

 be credited. Most of the true armadillos have medium-sized or rather large 

 ears, placed far apart from one another ; the first and second claws of the 

 fore-foot are, if present at all, slender ; and the breast of the female bears a 

 single pair of teats. 



The first genus (Dasypus) includes the typical armadillos, of which the six- 

 banded species (D. sexcindus) of Brazil, and the Argentine peludo, or hairy 



armadillo {D. villosus), are well-known 

 examples. These animals have from 

 six to eight movable bands in the 

 carapace, which is more or less 

 depressed with strongly serrated 

 margins. The ears are small or 

 moderate, and the head is very broad 

 and much depressed, with the muzzle 

 comparatively blunt. The tail, which 

 Fig. 99.-lUmY AK^^mLLHOcisypus !^ shorter than the head and body, 

 viUosus). IS plated with distinct rings near the 



root. In the fure-foot the first toe ia 

 the slenderest of all, and the second the longest. The teeth, which 

 are relatively large, are generally nine above and ten below, the first 

 upper pair being usually implanted in the premaxillary or anterior jaw- 

 bones. Some of the species are of considerable size, the head and body in 

 the typical one measuring as much as 16 inches. In the Argentine the peludo 

 is now mainly nocturnal, and feeds largely upon the carcases of cattle, 

 beneath which its burrows are frequently formed. The much smaller piohi 

 (D. minutus) of the same districts is, however, chiefly a diurnal animal. In 

 spite of having but two teats, the female produces from two to four 

 young, which are born blind, with the armour already developed, but in a 

 soft and flexible condition. The second genus, of which the broad armadillo 

 or tatouay {Lysiurus xmicindns) of Brazil, Paraguay, and Surinam is the 

 typical representative, differs from the last by the greater number of 

 movable bands in the carapace, which are either twelve or thirteen. The 

 teeth, of which there are either eight or nine pairs in each jaw, are relatively 

 smaller than in the first genus, and in the upper jaw do not extend so far 

 backwards on the sides of the palate. The tail, also, is almost devoid of 

 bony plates, of which it has only a few on the under side and near the tip. 

 The chief characteristic of the fore-foot ia the great size of the curved claw 

 borne by the third toe ; the fourth and fifth toes having similar but smaller 

 claws, while those of the first and second are long and slender. In the hind-foot 



