MIDDLE ANT-EATER. 169 



men is given in No. 2. of the Museum Leveri- 

 anum, and is copied in the present work. 



MIDDLE ANT-EATER. 



Myrmecophaga Tetradactyla. M. palmis tetradactylisj plantis 

 pentadactylis , cauda cakva* Lin. Syst. Nat. p. 52. 



Ant-eater, with four toes on the fore feet, five on the hind, and 

 half-naked prehensile tail. 



This species, which is far inferior in size to the 

 former, has a long slender nose, bending down a 

 little: the mouth is black: the eyes small: the 

 ears small and upright. The general colour of 

 the animal is a palish yellow-brown; the hair 

 somewhat shining, and of a hard nature: on each 

 side of the neck is an oblique black or dusky band, 

 crossing the shoulders, and passing toward the lower 

 part of the back : the tail, which is covered with 

 longer hair than the back, is thickish at the base, 

 but tapers towards the end where it is nearly bare, 

 having the same prehensile power as. in some of 

 the Monkies. On each of the fore feet are four 

 toes, armed with strong claws, the middle ones 

 extremely so. On the hind feet are five claws, 

 small in comparison with the former. The length 

 of the animal from nose to tail is one foot seven 

 inches: of the tail ten inches. It inhabits the 

 same parts of South America with the Great Ant- 

 Eater, and its manners are similar. It also climbs 

 trees, and occasionally clings by its tail to the 

 branches. 



