16 VERTEBRATA, 



No. 35. Megalonyx Jeffersonii. Harlan. 



Two Claws. The orig- 

 inals were found in a cave 

 in Greenbriar County, 

 West Virginia. 



Size, 7 s 4. Price $1.25. 



No. 36. Glyptodon . (Schistopleurum typus, Nodot.) 



Carapace, Head, Tail and Hind-Leg. This gigantic fossil Edentate was 

 a representative in Pleistocene times of the Armadillos of South America. It 

 was furnished with a huge carapace or coat of mail, formed of hexagonal plates 

 united by sutures, and constituting an impenetrable covering for the upper part 

 of the body and part of the tail. The carapace differs from that of modern 

 Armadillos in having no greaves or joints, for the purpose of contracting or roll- 

 ing up its body. The head, also, was defended by a tesselated bony casque. The 

 tail possessed an independent dermal sheath or cuirass made up of very promi- 

 nent tubercles disposed in distinct whorls. This arrangement of the component 

 parts of the sheath permitted a slight flexibility, and made the tail a formidable 

 weapon. The bones of the leg and foot were perfectly adapted to bear the steady 

 pressure of this enormous weight. The latter is admirably contrived to form 

 the base of a column, and at the same time to allow a degree of motion required 

 for the scratching and digging operations of Dasypoid animals. It is penta- 

 dactylous, four of the digits being furnished with long flattened nails, similar 

 to those of the Elephant. The teeth, numbering eight on each side of each 

 jaw, are sculptured laterally by two wide and deep channels which divide the 

 grinding surface into three portions. The generic name was derived from this 

 fluting of the molars. The lower jaw is of singular shape, its angle being ele- 

 vated to a level with the grinding surface of the teeth. But the most remarka- 

 ble characteristic of the skull is the long, strong process descending from the 

 base of the zygomatic process. The animal measured from snout to the end of 

 the tail, following the curve of the back, eleven feet ; the tesselated trunk- 

 armor being six feet eight inches in length and nine feet across. The Glyptodons 

 do not appear to have emigrated from the central regions of South America, but 

 formed a local fauna of the highest interest which is now only faintly represented 

 by the living Armadillos. The carapace of these Edentates probably weighed 

 more than four thousand poimds. The original was found in 184G, near Monte- 

 video, on the banks of the Luxan (Pleistocene). It was presented by order of 

 the Dictator Eosas to Vice- Admiral Dupotet who gave it to the Museum of his 

 native city — Dijon, France, where it is still preserved. 



Price of all the parts,with mountings, $150.00. 



