AARD- VARKS AND PANGOLINS. 189 



from all the latter in the absence of additional articular facets to the hindei 

 trunk-vertebra;. More definitely they may be distinguished from the 

 edentates as follows. V/^hen teeth are present these are of a totally different 

 type to those of the latter, and when teeth are absent the hinder trunk- 

 Vertebrae lack the aforesaid additional articulations which are present in the 

 toothless edentates. 



The aard-varks, or ant-bears (Orycteropodidcc), forming the typical members 

 of the order, are now represented by two closely allied species of the genus 

 Ory teropus, both of which are confined to the Ethiopian 

 region. There is, however, evidence that during the Aard-Varka. 

 Tertiary period aard-varka existed in the south of Europe. 

 The existing forms are uncouth and strange-looking animals of large size, 

 with the akin nearly naked, or 

 sparsely covered with bristly hairs. 

 The long and narrow head is fur- 

 nished with greatly elongated, 

 slender, and pointed ears, and 

 terminates in a somewhat pig-like 

 snout, in which are perforated the 

 circular nostrils, while the mouth 

 is tubular. The neck is short, the 

 fore-quarters are comparatively 

 short, the back is much arched, 

 and the tail, which is nearly as 



long as the iDody, is thick, cylin- 



drical, and tapering. In the short Firr.i.Q0—AkRD-YARjL(,Orycteropuscapensis). 



but powerful fore-limbs, £he four 

 toes are furnished with medium-sized strong nails ; while the hind-feet have 

 five nearly equal toes, each bearing a nail. When walking, the entire soles 

 are applied to the ground. Adult aard-varks usually have five pairs of 

 cheek-teeth in each jaw, although from eight to ten pairs of upper teeth, and 

 eight of lower ones are developed. Of these all but the last three have milk- 

 predecessors, which never cut the gum. These teeth have no enamel, and 

 are composed of a number of adherent polygonal denticules, traversed by a 

 series of radiating tubes ; such a structure being quite unparalleled in the 

 mammalian class. The tongue is cylindrical and extensile. In total length 

 these animals may measure as much as 6 ft. In habits, aard-varks are 

 nocturnal, burrowing, and insectivorous, feeding chiefly on ants and termites. 

 Their powers of digging are very great, and in South Africa their burrows 

 are generally constructed in the neighbourhood of termite hills. 



Very different both in external appearance and internal structure are the 

 pangolins, or scaly ant-eaters, of the warmerparts of the Old World, constituting 

 the family Manidcn, and all included in the single genus Munis. 

 The most peculiar and striking feature of the animals is the Pangolins, 

 investiture of the head, body, tail, and limbs in a complete 

 coat of overlapping horny scales, so that the general appearance is much 

 like the cone of a spruce-fir. Teeth are wanting ; and the skull is long, 

 conical, and devoid of a zygomatic or cheek- arch, with a very slender lower 

 jaw. The eyes are minute, and the external conchs of the ears rudimental. 

 A few bristly hairs often occur between the scales, and the latter do not 

 extend on to the under surface of the body, or the inner sides of the limbs. 

 The long and worm-like tongue can be protruded a great distance in front 



