CHAPTER XXII 
THE SLOTHS, ANT-EATERS, AND ARMADILLOS 
BY W. P. PYCRAFT, A. L. S., F. Z. 5S. 
f HE very remark- 
able assemblage 
of animals we are 
now about to consider 
includes many diverse 
forms, bracketed together 
to. constitute one great 
group; and this on account 
of the peculiarities of the 
structure and distribution 
of the teeth, which are 
never present in the front 
of the jaw, and may be 
absent altogether. Of the 
five groups recognised, 
three occur in the New 
and two in the Old World. 
All have undergone vefy 
considerable modificaticn 
of form and structure, and 
in every case this modifica- 
tion has tended to render 
themmoreperfectlyadapted 
to an arboreal or terrestrial 
existence. Flyingor 
aquatic types are wanting. 
Whilst one great group — 
the Sloths — is entirely 
vegetarian, the others feed 
either on flesh or insects. : 
THE SLOTHS 
In the matter of 
personal appearance Nature 
has not been kind to the 
| SLOTH, though it is cer- 
| tainly true that there are 
J many uglier animals — not 
Photo by 4.8. Rudland & Sons : 
NORTHERN TWO-TOED SLOTH (COSTA RICA) including those, such as 
some of the Monkey Tribe 
This is also known as Hoffmann’s Sloth. The appellation ‘* two-toed’? refers to the fore limb only, ; y f 
The hind foot has three toes and certain of the Swine, 
which are positively 
hideous. The mode of life of the sloth is certainly remarkable, for almost its whole existence 
is passed among the highest trees of the densest South American forests, and passed, too, in 
300 
