ACULEATED ant-eater. 175 



of an hundred pounds, and to have a long head 

 and tongue: if it fastens its fore feet into the 

 ground, the strongest man cannot pull it away: it 

 has four claws on the fore feet ; feeds on ants, and 

 burrows under ground, coming out chiefly by 

 night to feed. 



Some have been inclined to form a distinct ge- 

 nus from this species, under the title of Oryctero- 

 pus; but this seems perfectly unnecessary, it be- 

 ing a genuine Myrmecophaga. 



It is' possible that the disputed figures in Seba, 

 mentioned under the article Myrmecophaga tri- 

 dactyla, may belong to this species. 



ACULEATED ANT-EATER. 



Myrmecophaga Aculeata. M. aculeata, cauda bre-vissima. Vi- 

 varium Naturae, tab. 1 09. 

 Spiny Ant-Eater, with very short tail. 

 Porcupine Ant-Eater. Naturalist' *s Miscellany, pi. 109. 

 Aculeated Ant-Eater. Pennant Quadr. 2. p. 262. 



The Aculeated Ant-Eater is one of those cu- 

 rious animals which have been lately discovered 

 in the vast island, or rather continent, of Austra- 

 lasia or New Holland; and is a striking instance 

 of that beautiful gradation, so frequently observed 

 in the animal kingdon, by which creatures of one 

 tribe or genus approach to those of a very differ- 

 ent one. It forms a connecting link between 

 the very distant Linnsean genera of Hystrix (Por- 

 cupine) and Myrmecophaga (Ant-Eater), having 



