104 MAMMALIA. BRUTA. Ant-eater, 



Since writing the above, I have feen a defcription of the fame individual, accompanied with a very 

 accurate wooden cut, by Mr Bewick of Newcaftle, Gen. Hift. of Quad. 2d ed. p. 266, who fuppofes 

 it congeneric with the Bear : To this opinion I cannot fubfcribe, as all the generic characters of that 

 genus are entirely wanting in the animal under confideration. The fame individual is defcribed, un- 

 der the name of Urfine Sloth, in the Naturalift's Mifcellany; and I am happy to find that the ingeni- 

 ous author of that ufeful publication has referred it to the fame genus in which it has been placed, m 

 the manufcript of this work, ever fince its appearance in Edinburgh. — T. 



VI. ANT-EATER.— 6. MY R M ECO P H AG A. 8. 



Has no teeth : The tongue is round, and capable of being ad- 

 vanced very far out of the mouth, which is very narrow, 

 and placed at the extremity of the fnout. The body is co- 

 vered with hair. 



This genus feeds on ants, the nefts of which they dig up with their claws, and draw out the infecls 

 by inferting their long tongues into the nefts. They may be tamed, and will live for a long time 

 without food. They fleep during the day, with their heads reclined under the fore legs, and go out 

 in the night, in queft of food. Their fur is exceedingly thick fet. 



341 I. Two- toed Ant-eater*— 1. Mynnecophaga didaElyla. 1. 



Has two toes on the fore paws, and four on the hind feet; and a bufhy tail. Muf. Ad, 

 Fr. i. 8. 



Two-toed ant-eater, with a fhort fnout, having two toes on the fore, and four on the hind feet-. 

 Briff. quad. 98. — Tamandua, or White coati, from America. Seba, Muf. i. 60. t. 37. f. 3. — Little 

 ant-eater. Edw. av. 1. 220. — Fourmiller. Sm. Buff. v. 352. pi. cxlviiL — Leaft ant-eater. Penn. hift. 

 of quad. n. 372. pi. 1. 



Inhabits South America. — Walks very flowly on the heels, The body is of a yellow colour. This 

 .fpecies is frnaller, and has a fhorter muzzle than the other fpecies of the genus. According to Mr 

 de la Eorde, this animal is of a bright reddifh colour, bordering on golden yellow, and is about the 

 fize of a fquirrel : The tongue is fpiral, and like a worm : It has no Cry, and feeds only in the night. 

 By Mr Pennant, this fpecies is defcribed as having a conical nofe, a little bent downwards ; fmall ears 

 hid in the fur; the body and head being feven inches and a half long, and the toil eight and a half; 

 the head, body, limbs, and upper part and fides of the tail, are covered with long, foft, filky hair, or 

 rather wool, of a yellowiih brown colour ; the tail is thick at the bafe, arid tapers to a point ; being 

 naked for the laft four inches, on the lower fide, and prehenfile. 



The figures of this animal, as given by the Count de Buffon and Mr Pennant, differ remarkably 

 from each other : In the former, the fore paw has only one claw, arid the hind paws are fo confufed, 

 that only a flat, broad, pahriated mafs can be difcovered, with a kind of thumb or falfe toe on each 

 fide of each paw; while, in the latter, the fore paws have each two, and the hind paws each four, 

 diftindl claws. The form of the head in thefe two figures is iikewife very different ; but in both 



the 



