Armadillos.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



179 



nished with a small proboscis as an adjunct to the 

 tongue in stripping off the smaller branches of the 

 prostrate tree ; its skull, moreover, has the two tables 

 separated by cells, as in the Mylodon. Fig. 784 

 represents the pelvis and hind-leg of the Megathe- 

 rium in the Royal College of Surgeons ; Fig. 785, the 

 ungueal phalanx ; Fig. 786, the teeth of "Megathe- 

 rium. 



With respect to the Megalonyx, it was an animal 

 closely related to the Megatherium, and doubtless 

 of the same habits, but of inferior size, not exceed- 

 ing the size of an ox, though more solidly and 

 heavily built. Its relies are apparently more rare 

 than those of the Magatherium, at least fewer have 

 been recovered. 



II. INSECTIVOROUS EDENTATA. 



Family Loricata, or Armadillos. — This family 

 group includes the true armadillos (Dasypus), the 

 Chlamyphorus, and also the Aard-vark, or African 

 Ant-eater, which, though not covered with armour, 

 approaches in its structure nearer to the armadillos 

 than to the American ant-eaters (Myrmecophaga), 

 vnth which animals it was formerly associated, 

 and which it resembles very closely in manners and 

 food. 



The Armadillos (Dasypus) are divided by Cuvier 

 into five minor groups, or subgenera, according to 

 number of the teeth and fore-claws ; viz., Cachi- 

 chames, Apars, Encouberts, Cabassous, and Prio- 

 dontes. 



The Cachichames have four toes on each foot, and 

 seven teeth on each side above and below. The 

 Apars have four toes on each foot, and nine or ten 

 teeth in each side in both jaws. The Encouberts 

 have five toes on the fore-feet, and nine or ten teeth 

 on each side above and below, with two incisor 

 teeth in the upper. The Cabassous have five toes, 

 but those of the fore feet are disposed obliquely, and 

 in such a manner that the thumb and index finger 

 are small, the middle and fourth toes armed with 

 tremendously large trenchant claws, and the fifth 

 very small : teeth nine or ten on each side above 

 and below. The Priodontes, in addition to the un- 

 equal toes and enormous claws of the Cabassous, 

 have from twenty-two to twenty-four small teeth on 

 each side in each jaw. 



The Armadillos are exclusively confined to the 

 warmer portions of the American continent, and 

 the species are tolerably numerous, none, however, 

 attaining to a very large size excepting the Dasypus 

 Gigas, which itself is but a pigmy to the extinct 

 Glyptodon. 



These animals are burrowing in their habits, 

 with thick, short, powerful limbs, and a flattened 

 broad, stout body, covered above with plates and 

 bands of horny armour. The head is broad between 

 the eyes, whence it runs to a pointed muzzle ; the 

 mouth is small; the teeth are cylindrical, feeble, 

 destitute of true roots, set apart from each other, and 

 mutually fit, when the jaws are closed, into the inter- 

 vals. The tongue is smooth, slender, and moderately 

 extensible ; it is most probably endowed with the 

 sense of taste in a high degree, as we have observed 

 especially in one species, the Dasypus Peba, the 

 animal touched with it whatever was presented by 

 way of food ; and we know that it is lubricated abun- 

 dantly with a glutinous fluid, poured out chiefly from 

 the submaxillary gland. (See ' Zool. Proceeds.' for 

 1831, p. 144.) 



The portions of armour which cover these animals 

 consist of a triangular or oval plate on the top of 

 the head, or rather on the chaffron, its posterior 

 margin projecting over the neck ; a large buckler 

 over the shoulders, and a similar buckler over 

 the haunches, while between these solid portions 

 there intervenes a series of transverse bands over- 

 lapping each other's edges, and allowing to the 

 body due freedom of motion. Each of these 

 separate portions consists of a multitude of small 

 parts, all consolidated together, giving the idea of 

 what is termed mosaic-work, especially on the 

 head and shoulders, the pattern differing in different 

 species. The limbs, which are short and thick, are 

 almost entirely concealed by the edges of this 

 armour, but. the feet, which are unprotected by it, 

 are covered by a hard tuberculated skin. The tail 

 is covered with, a series of calcareous rings; the skin 

 of the under surface of the body is very rough and 

 beset with long scattered hairs; and from between 

 the joints of the rings and plates of the dorsal armour 

 there issue hairs of the same kind, more nnmerous 

 in young than adult individuals. In some species, 

 however, as the Mataco (Dasypus Apar), whose 

 armour is peculiarly thick and solid, no hair is to be 

 discovered. 



The eyes of the Armadillos are small and lateral ; 

 the ears, varying in size in the different species, are 

 firm, and covered with tuberculated skin. Most 

 of the species are nocturnal in their habits, remain- 

 ing concealed in their burrows during the day ; 

 these are of considerable extent, dipping at an in- 

 clination of about 45 degrees ; they have one or two 



sharp turns, and very narrow, just admitting the 

 passage of their occupier. The animals make these 

 barrows with great expedition, and can only be 

 forced out by smoke or water ; such is their strength 

 and the tenacity of their hold, that they have been 

 known to leave" their tail in the hands of the hunter, 

 on his attempt to drag them forth. 



When alarmed during their excursions, the first 

 endeavour of these animals is to gain their burrows, 

 to which they run with a degree of celerity little 

 to be expected from their clumsy appearance. 

 Most of the species will easily outstrip a man ; their 

 movements, however, resemble those produced by 

 mechanism, for as the spinous processes of the 

 vertebral column are all inclined the same way, 

 viz., towards the tail, there being no central points 

 to which those of the upper and those of the lower 

 portion mutually converge, so the motions of the 

 limbs are unaccompanied by corresponding inflex- 

 ions of this column, as is the casein other animals 

 whose progressive motions are free and uncon- 

 strained. 



When hard pressed and unable to gain their bur- 

 row, they either attempt to dig a temporary place 

 of refuge, or they gather up their limbs beneath 

 their coat of mail, bend down their head, assume a 

 partially rolled-up figure, and wait the event. The 

 mataco, which does not burrow, and is by no means 

 swift, can roll itself up completely. They never 

 attempt to bite or otherwise defend themselves. 

 The food of the armadillos consists principally of 

 fallen fruits, roots, and worms ; but they do not 

 reject carrion, and have been known to penetrate 

 into graves, when not properly protected by stones 

 or brick-work. Azara informs us that ants are 

 never found in the districts inhabited by the arma- 

 dillos, and that these animals break into the ant- 

 hills, and devour the insects as greedily as the true 

 ant-eaters. Nature, it is true, has not provided 

 them with the same apparatus for this purpose, but 

 the armadillos may, notwithstanding, destroy vast 

 quantities of ants, though it is probable that they 

 expel them from their own peculiar districts as 

 much at least by destroying the habitations as by 

 actually devouring the insects themselves. The 

 ordinary food of the armadillos consists chiefly of 

 the roots of the manioc, of potatoes, maize, and 

 other similar substances of a vegetable nature, 

 though, as already observed, without rejecting ani- 

 mal substances naturally soft or so far decomposed 

 as to be easily torn without the help of canine teeth. 

 They are also very destructive to the eggs and 

 young of such birds as build their nests on the 

 ground, and greedily devour worms, frogs, small 

 lizards, and M. Azara says, even vipers. The 

 chief animal food of the armadillos, however, is 

 derived from the immense herds of wild cattle which 

 cover the plains and savannas of every part of 

 South America. These are rarely slaughtered but 

 for the sake of the hide and tallow ; and as the 

 carcases are left to rot on the pampas, or plains, 

 the smell soon attracts vast crowds of carnivorous 

 animals of various species, and among others, great 

 numbers of armadillos, which greedily devour the 

 half-putrid flesh, and soon become extremely fat 

 and corpulent. In this condition, notwithstanding 

 the filthy nature of their food, their flesh is esteemed 

 a great delicacy, both by the native Indians and by 

 the Portuguese and Spaniards of Ameriea. The 

 animal is roasted in its shell, and considered one of 

 the greatest dainties which the country produces. 



The armadi'los see but indifferently, particularly 

 in bright sunshiny weather ; but their sense of hear- 

 ing is extremely acute, and amply compensates for 

 any imperfection of sight. When alarmed by any 

 unusual or strange sound, they prick up their ears, 

 stop for a moment to satisfy themselves of its dis- 

 tance and direction, then commence a precipitate 

 retreat to their burrow, or, if that be too remote, 

 begin to construct a new one. Smell is, however, 

 byfar the most acute of their senses. 



It is generally believed that the female armadillo 

 brings forth but once during the year, but she pro- 

 duces at a birth frequently six, eight, or even ten 

 young ones ; yet she has never more than four teats, 

 and, according to the report of M. Azara, the most 

 accurate and extensive observer who has written 

 upon the history of these animals, in some species 

 only two — an anomaly, with respect to the number 

 of young and the number of teats, which appears 

 to contradict the general rule observable among 

 other mammals. 



It may here be observed that one of the weasel- 

 headed armadillos (D. Encoubert) in the Zoological 

 Gardens, produced only two at a birth : when first 

 born they were quite blind, about four inches in 

 length, soft, and white, but the skin presented all 

 the Iturrows and mosaic-work which characterize it 

 when indurated and solid. The growth of these 

 animals was not a little surprising ; in six or eight 

 weeks they attained nearly to the size of their 

 parents. One born on the 3rd of September, 1831, 

 and which died on the 16th of November of the 



same year, had increased in weight during that short 

 period 52 ounces 2 drams, and measured 11£ inches 

 Irom the nose to the root of the tail. The young 

 are far more hairy than the adults. 



790.— The Peba. 

 (Dasypus Peba). The Tatouhou, or Black Tatu, of 

 the Guaranis, is an example of Cuvier's group of 

 Cachichames, which, according to Gumilla, is the 

 general name of the Armadillos on the banks of the 

 Orinoco. In zoological catalogues we find it under 

 the ambiguous names of Dasypus septemcinctus, 

 D. octocinctus, and D. novemcinctus ; three differ- 

 ent species being thus made out from the erroneous 

 supposition that the number of moveable bands on 

 the back was invariabla in the same species: 

 whereas the truth is that the number of bands is 

 subject to a certain degree of variation ; thus in the 

 Mule Armadillo there are six or seven bands, in the 

 Peba from six to nine. It appears also that the 

 young have not the full complement of bands, by 

 one or two which become developed afterwards. 

 The Peba is a native of Guiana, Brazil, and Para- 

 guay, and is timid and nocturnal ; it is tolerably 

 rapid in its movements, and very expert in burrow- 

 ing. 



It is never found in woods, but frequents the open 

 and cultivated plains, and is much hunted by the 

 inhabitants on account of its flesh, which, when 

 roasted in the shell, is said to be extremely delicate, 

 resembling that of a sucking-pig. 



The length of the head and body is about sixteen 

 inches; of the tail, which is slender and tapering 

 fourteen inches. The muzzle is greatly elongated, 

 straight, and pointed ; the ears are rather large and 

 the eyes small ; the tongue long, narrow, pointed, 

 and extensible. The general colour of the shell is 

 dusky black. 



Allied to the Peba is the Mule Armadillo (Dasy- 

 pus hybridus, Desm.), called M. Courigua, or Mule 

 Tatu, by the Guaranis, in allusion to its long upright 

 ears. It is of smaller size than the Peba, and its 

 tail is comparatively shorter. It wanders by day 

 over the plains, feeding on beetles, larvae, roots, 

 &c, ; differing from the Peba in being diurnal in 

 its habits. It is common on the Pampas of Buenos 

 Ayres. 



791.— The Mataco. 



(Dasypus Apar~). This species is an example of 

 Cuvier's group of Apars. The Mataco, or Bolita 

 (little ball) as it is sometimes called, has its shell of 

 defence extremely hard and solid, forming an ad- 

 mirable coat of mail. It. has only three bands on 

 the back. Of all the Armadillos, the Mataco is the 

 only one which can assume the complete figure of 

 a ball, enclosing the head and legs; and this 

 faculty, together with the strength of the skull, 

 appears the more necessary, as it does not burrow, 

 its limbs being feeble, and its claws little adapted 

 for scratching up the ground. It is diurnal in its 

 habils, and slow in its movements. It is anative of 

 the Pampas of Buenos Ayres ; the tail is short, not 

 much exceeding two inches in length, while the 

 head and body measure nearly fifteen inches. 

 Rolled up in its tessellated shell, it is safe from the 

 attacks of dogs ; " For the dog," says Mr. Darwin, 

 " not being able to take the whole in its mouth, 

 tries to bite one side, and the ball slips away. The 

 smooth hard covering of the Mataco offers a better 

 defence than the sharp pines of the hedgehog." A 

 shell of this species, which formed the cup of a 

 cacique, is in the Mus. Zool. Soc. 



792. — The Poyou, or Weasel-headed Arma- 

 dillo. 



(Dasypus Encoubert, Desm.\ This Armadillo 

 belongs to Cuvier's section termed Encouberts: it 

 is very common in Paraguay, and burrows in the 

 ground with almost incredible celerity. Its strength 

 and aclivity are very remarkable, and notwithstand- 

 ing the shortness of its legs, few men can overtake 

 it. It is of a restless unquiet disposition, inquisitive 

 and confi'dent ; and when any noise is made at the 

 entrance of its burrow, it is said to come fearlessly 

 forth to investigate the cause. Its voice is a low 

 grunt, like that of a young pig. These animals live 

 solitary or in pairs, and haunt wooded districts, 

 where they excavate very deep burrows : when dan- 

 ger threatens, they carry on their mining operations, 

 rendering it. difficult to dig them out. They feed 

 upon melons, potatoes, and other vegetables ; but 

 also to a great extent, upon carrion; the natives 

 nevertheless eat the flesh of this species without any 

 repugnance. When it stops or rests on the ground, 

 it has a habit of squatting like a hare in her form, 

 and in this situation the great breadth of the body 

 is very apparent. The head is large, flat, and nearly 

 triangular: the face short, and the muzzle blunt; 

 the ears are moderate. 



Several individuals of this Armadillo have at va- 

 rious times lived in the menagerie of the Zool. Soc. 

 They appear to have little fear, and soon become 



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