112 POPULAR OFFICIAL GUIDE. 
TAMANDUA. 
The Toothless Mammals.—The Order Edentata contains 
some of the most odd and remarkable mammals that ever 
find their way into a zoological park. They are the arma- 
dilloes, ant-eaters and sloths. Without exception, they are 
delicate feeders, and difficult to keep for long periods, and 
for this reason the number on exhibition constantly varies 
between half a score and none at all! As far as it is pos- 
sible, the species named below will be kept on exhibition; 
but these rarities are difficult to obtain, and the supply 
must be regarded as intermittent. 
The Nine-Banded Armadillo, (Tatu novemcinctum), of 
southern Texas and Arizona, and southward, is the only 
edentate found in the United States. Its total length, from 
nose to tail-tip, is about 26 inches, and it is about as large 
as an opossum. Its strangest feature is the horny shell, 
with 9 jointed bands in the middle, which Nature has de- 
signed for the animal’s protection. It lives in burrows in 
the earth, and in a wild state it feeds on a mixed diet of 
worms, ants, snails, beetles, grasshoppers and other insects. 
The Six-Banded Armadillo, (Dasypus sevcinctus), of South 
America, has a much stronger and more bony shell than the 
preceding species, but very similar habits. The Three- 
Banded Armadillo, (Tolypeutes tricinctus), 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 
