96 



rOPULAE OFFICIAL GUIDE. 



NnsTE-EANDED ARMADILLO. 



Banded Armadillo, {Tolypcutes triciiutus), is the most re- 

 markable of all — and also the most difficult to obtain. It 

 is able to convert itself into a round ball covered at all 

 points by bony armor, and remarkably well protected from 

 the teeth of predatory animals. 



The Great Ant-Eater, {Myrmecophaga jubata).— This is a 

 very remarkable animal, and usually is to be found alive in 

 the Small-Mammal House. Its anatomical peculiarities are 

 apparent at a glance. Its toothless jawrs are enormously 

 elongated, and taper to a rounded point, where the mouth 

 opens as a narrovs' slit, scarcely large enough to admit the 

 large end of a lead pencil. Its front claws are large and 

 strong, for use in tearing open ant-hills and decayed logs; 

 and the creature walks upon them as if club-footed. Its 

 tail is long and thick, and bears a luxuriant brush of coarse, 

 wavy hair more than a foot long. The negroes of British 

 Guiana gravelj' inform travellers that the Ant-Eater uses 

 his bushy tail as a broom, with which he sweeps up ants in 

 order to devour them wholesale. 



As may be inferred from the total absence of teeth, this 

 strange creature lives chiefly upon crawling insects. In de- 

 vouring the dreadful ants, which in a South American forest 

 often make life a burden, it helps to preserve the balance of 

 Nature. In captivity the food of this animal consists of 



