CHAPTER XI 

 THE ORDER OF TOOTHLESS MAMMALS 



EDENTA TA 



Near the bottom of the scale of terrestrial warm-blooded quadrupeds, is found the Order 

 Edentata, so called because several of its members are toothless, and others are nearly so. It 

 contains perhaps a greater proportion of odd and remarkable forms than any other Order, 

 and all are found on the American continent. Many of them are so wonderful in form and habit 

 that they well repay the effort necessary to make their acquaintance. The species fall into 

 three Families, as follows: 



ORDER 

 EDENTATA. 



Armadillos, . 



Ant-Eaters, . 

 Sloths, . . . 



DAS-Y-POD'I-DAE, 



MYR-ME-CO-PHAG'1-DAE, 



BRAD-Y-POD'I-DAE, 



EXAMPLES. 



! Nine-Banded Armadillo. 

 Six-Banded Armadillo. 

 Three-Banded Armadillo. 

 Giant Armadillo. 



3 Great Ant-Eater. 

 \ Tamandua. 



( Three-Toed Sloth. 

 / Two-Toed Sloth. 



THE ARMADILLO FAMILY. 



Dasypodidae. 



With a few exceptions, armadillos are found 

 only in South America. The southern half of 

 that continent was once the home of a won- 

 derful array of gigantic animals belonging to 

 this Order. In the La Plata Museum of Nat- 

 ural History is a procession from the Past. It 

 is a long row of earth-colored, dome-like shells 

 of great thickness, some of them as large as 

 small hogsheads, and curiously ornamented by 

 a scalloped lower edge. Some are provided with 

 huge tails that are studded with many big, pointed 

 knobs, called tubercles. These curious objects 

 are the remains of gigantic armadillos, now 

 extinct, called Glyp'to-dons, which once 

 roamed over the pampas of South America. 1 

 In many American museums, casts of the re- 

 mains of one of these weird creatures may be 

 seen in what is known as the "Ward Casts of 



1 A large Glyptodont, 7 feet long, has recently 

 been discovered in Texas, and described by Professor 

 H. F. Osborn as Glyptotherium texanum. 



Fossils." The shell of the Glyptodon copied in 

 plaster by Professor Ward is a nearly perfect 

 dome, 5J feet long, 4 feet wide and 40 inches high. 



With but one exception, the armadillo of 

 to-day is a small creature, finding shelter in 

 burrows which it digs for itself in the earth. Its 

 movements are nervous and spasmodic, and 

 for a short distance it scurries over the ground 

 quite rapidly, running on the ends of its claws, 

 and dodging quite skilfully. Its legs are so 

 short, however, it cannot run far, and when 

 about to be overtaken by a dangerous enemy, it 

 halts, and burrows in the ground with wonderful 

 rapidity. It is not equipped for fighting, for it 

 has no front teeth. Its claws are fit only for 

 digging, and since it cannot climb trees, it pre- 

 fers to live in burrows, on open prairies. 



But Nature has not left these creatures with- 

 out protection from their numerous enemies. 

 The body is incased in a hard shell, composed 

 of small plates of bone very cunningly joined 

 together, which covers every portion save the 

 breast and abdomen. 



The head is protected by a plate placed on its 

 upper surface, and the tail is incased in a chain 



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