Ant-eaters.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



183 



i; 



whence it narrows to the apex, heing laterally com- 

 pressed, but its form is hid beneath a prolusion of 

 long, coarse, flowing hair, which hangs like a full 

 pllime or fringe. 



The hair of the head is short and close, but over 

 all the rest of the animal it is long and shaggy, par- 

 ticularly on the top of the neck and along the back, 

 where it forms a kind of long mane, and on the tail, 

 where it is a foot in length, and hangs down on 

 each side, sweeping the ground when the ant-bear 

 walks. 



The prevailing colour on the head, face, and 

 cheeks of the ant-bear is a mixture of grey and 

 brown ; that on the upper parts of the body and 

 tail is deep brown, mixed with silvery white. A 

 broad black band, bordered on each side with a 

 similar one of white or light greyish brown colour, 

 commences on the chest, and passes oblicpiely over 

 each shoulder, diminishing gradually as it approaches 

 the loins, where it ends in a point. The sides, arms, 

 and thighs are silvery grey, with a slight mixture of 

 brown, marked with two deep black spots, one on 

 the carpus, and the other on the toes; the hind 

 legs are almost perfectly black, and the breast and 

 belly of a deep brown, almost equally obscure. 



The following is an abstract of the habits of this 

 animal, as observed by Dr. Schomburgk (see 'Zool. 

 Proceedings,' 183D, p. 21):— 



Dr. Schomburgk observes, that at a distance the 

 ant-bear appears to be a much taller animal than it 

 really is, owing to the elongated and nearly erect 

 hair of the mane, and also the erect manner in 

 which it carries its large bushy tail. When walk- 

 ing, the outer portion of the fore-foot is applied to 

 the ground, and the long claws are then doubled 

 inwards. It runs with a peculiar trot, and is not, 

 as has been represented, slow in its movements and 

 easily overtaken ; for when chased, it will keep a 

 horse in canter, and does not tire readily. White 

 ants, or termites, constitute its chief food. When 

 the ant-bear meets with one of the tumuli con- 

 structed by the white ants, it immediately pulls the 

 fabric down by means of its large strong claws, and 

 when the ants are thus exposed, its long slender 

 tongue is thrust out to collect them. The move- 

 ments of the tongue, *alternately being protruded 

 and retracted, are so rapid, says Dr. Schomburgk, 

 that it is no longer surprising how so large an animal 

 can satiate its appetite with such minute insects. 

 The ant-bear is, however, an economist, and does 

 not destroy more than he wants. When he -finds 

 that the termites diminish on the surface, and every 

 one seeks to escape in the numerous galleries of the 

 ruined edifice, he uses his left foot to hold some 

 large lumps of the nest, whilst with the right he 

 leisurely pulls them to pieces. 



With the termites he swallows a considerable 

 quantity of the material of which the ants' nest is 

 constructed. Of this fact Dr. Schomburgk assured 

 himself by dissection, and he is of opinion that the 

 substance" of the nest serves as a corrector. 



'' It has been generally thought," says Dr. Schom- 

 burgk, "that the ant-bear lives exclusively on ants; 

 this, however, is not the case. In one which I dis- 

 sected a year ago, a species of Julus was found ; and 

 the avidity with which an adult one now in my pos- 

 session swallowed fresh meat, which was hashed up 

 for it, makes me believe that even in the wild state 

 it does not satisfy itself exclusively with ants, and, 

 provided the food is of such a size that it can take 

 it up with its moveable upper lip, it does not despise 

 it." According to the same authority the great ant- 

 eater makes no burrow, its tail serving as a sufficient 

 protection : the female produces a single offspring, 

 w T hich she carries on her back; she defends herself 

 by striking with her fore feet, while raised on her 

 haunches, or throws herself on her back, dealing 

 blows with both her claws. The young soon be- 

 come tame and familiar, growl like a puppy, or 

 utter a plaintive whine. The sense of smell is ex- 

 quisite ; and the animal is directed more by this 

 than by sight. The teats of the female are two, and 

 pectoral. The young remains with its pa-rent for 

 the space of a year. 



Dr. Schomburgk domesticated an adult female 

 ant-eater, which he found capable of climbing with 

 great facility, and also of taking up objects with its 

 paws. It ate beef and even fish cut small. When 

 not asleep, it rested on its haunches; but. in feeding 

 kneeled as goats and sheep often do. Its height was 

 three feet; the length of the head one foot three 

 inches ; of the back three feet seven inches ; of the 

 tail three feet six inches. 



811. — The Tamandua 



{Myrmecophaga Tamandua, Cuv.). The Middle 

 Ant-eater, Shaw ; the Cagouare of Azara. 



This species is a native of Brazil and Paraguay. 

 In the general plan of its osteology, the Tamandua 

 agrees with the Tamanoir, but the bones of the 

 muzzle are shorter than the cranial portion, instead 

 of being twice as long : hence the whole head is 



more abbreviated: the snout is also more conical, and 

 presents a less tubular appearance. Independent ly, 

 however, of this difference, the Tamandua is easily 

 distinguished from its congener. It is far inferior 

 in size, and its tail, instead of being furnished with 

 full flowing hair, is a long, taper, thinly covered 

 organ of prehension, nearly naked indeed at the tip, 

 though well covered at the base. The fur of the 

 body is thick, dense, and harsh, and on the hinder 

 quarters of tolerable length, but on the head and 

 fore-quarters it is short, wiry, upright, and glossy, 

 and radiates from an areola between the shoulders; 

 the point of the muzzle is bare ; the eyes are small ; 

 the ears of a moderate size and rounded ; the mouth 

 is small, and the nostrils are lateral slits. 



In the structure of the limbs it closely resembles 

 its larger congener. The Tamandua when fully 

 grown measures about, two feet in the length of the 

 head and bod) r , and sixteen or seventeen inches in 

 that of the tail. A young specimen before us mea- 

 sures nineteen inches in the body ; and thirteen in 

 the tail. Its colour on the head and fore-quarters 

 is yellowish white ; the sides of the body, the 

 haunches, and the under surface, together with the 

 base of the tail, being black, and a black stripe 

 passes along each shoulder. 



M. Geott'roy regards as distinct species one alto- 

 gether black, which he terms T. nigra, and another 

 with a double shoulder-stripe, which he has named 

 T. bivittata. They are, however, most probably 

 only varieties ; at least Cuvier states, in his ' Osse- 

 mens Fossiles,' that however these animals may 

 vary in colour, they present no difference in their 

 proportions, nor in the details of their skeletons, 

 though he has rigidly compared them together. 

 Azara tells us that he once found dead a Cagouare 

 thirty-seven inches and three-quarters long, which 

 was of an universal yellowish white; whence he con- 

 cludes that the perfect livery is not gained until the 

 second year. The young are of an universal pale 

 cinnamon colour. 



In its manners the Tamandua agrees with the 

 Tamanoir, with this difference, that it often climbs 

 1rees, aiding itself by its prehensile tail, which, 

 however, is much inferior as a prehensile organ to 

 that of the little two-toed ant-eater, and its claws 

 are also less calculated for arboreal habits. Azara 

 suspects that it feeds much upon honey and bees, 

 which he adds, are here (in Paraguay) destitute of 

 stings, and take up their abode in trees. When re- 

 posing, the Tamandua doubles its head on its chest, 

 lies on its belly, places its fore-limbs along its sides 

 and its tail over its body. It smells strongly of 

 musk, and the odour when the animal is irritated, 

 is very disagreeable, and may be perceived at a great 

 distance. The female produces one at a birth ; it 

 is, says Azara, very ugly, and is carried by the 

 mother on her shoulders. 



812. — The Little Ant-eater. 



{Myrmecophaga didactyla, Linn.). The distinguish- 

 ing characters of this species consist in the shortness 

 of the muzzle, which is conical ; in the number of 

 the claws, which are two on each fore-foot, of hook- 

 like shape, compressed laterally and very sharp, the 

 outer one being considerably the largest ; in the ob- 

 lique position of the hind-feet, which are armed with 

 four short compressed claws ; and lastly, in the 

 strongly prehensile power of the tail, which is very 

 long and covered with fine silky fur, like that of the 

 body, except for three inches of the under surface at 

 the tip, where as in the spider-monkey, it is perfectly 

 naked. The claws of the fore-feet, which resemble 

 those of the sloth, are folded down on a callous pad, 

 and with these the little creature can cling to a 

 branch while the inward tournure of the hind-limbs 

 combines with the prehensile structure of the tail to 

 fit it for its arboreal residence. It may be observed 

 that, the animal possesses clavicles, which do not 

 exist in the great ant-eater, the Tamandua, nor yet 

 in the Pangolins. 



The eyes are small, the ears close and buried in 

 the fur ; the mouth is small, and the tongue long and 

 vermiform. The fur is exquisitely fine, soft, curled, 

 and silky : the general colour is delicate golden 

 straw, with a brownish mark on the back, often 

 wanting. Length of head and body, ten inches ; of 

 the tail, ten inches and a half. 



The little ant-eater is a native of Guiana and Bra- 

 zil, where it tenants the forests, suspending itself by 

 its long tail, as well as clinging by means of its 

 claws : it searches for insects among the fissures of 

 the bark, and attacks the nests of wasps, the nymphae 

 of which it pulls out with its fore-claws or nippers, 

 and eats them while it sits up like a squirrel. In 

 defending themselves, these animals strike with both 

 the fore-paws at once, and with considerable force. 

 In their habits they are nocturnal, sleeping with the 

 tail twisted round their perch. They utter no cry. 

 The female is said to breed in the hollows of trees, 

 making a bed of leaves, and producing only one at 

 a birth. There is a pale variety, regarded by some 

 as a distinct species. 



Genus Manis. — The American Ant-eaters are 

 represented in India and Africa by the Pangolins, 

 or Scaly Ant-eaters, which constitute the genua 

 Manis of Linnasus. These singular animals may 

 at once be known by the armour of dense horny 

 scales, or triangular plates overlapping each other, 

 by which every part of the body, except the middle 

 line of the under surface, is completely invested. 

 The body is depressed, rounded above, long and 

 low; the head is small and conical, the eyes are 

 minute, there are no external ears, the mouth is 

 small, and the tongue long and extensible ; the tail 

 is long and broad, and covered above and below 

 with hard imbricated scales ; the limbs are very- 

 short and thick, and mailed like the rest of the 

 body ; no distinct toes are apparent beyond the claws, 

 which on the fore-feet are five in number, the three 

 central ones being of enormous size, arched, thick, 

 and bluntly pointed. The first and the last claw 

 are very small. The large claws fold down on a 

 thick coarse pad, as in the ant-eater, and the mode 

 of progression in both cases is the same. The hind- 

 feet have five short, thick, blunt claws, edging a pad- 

 like sole, covered with coarse granular skin, and so 

 protuberant, that the claws do not fairly touch the 

 ground. The ungueal phalanges, or last joints of 

 the toes (both of the fore and hind feet), which are 

 sheathed by the claws, are remarkable for being bi- 

 furcated at their extremity, a peculiarity found in 

 no other of the Edentata. It is evidently a confor- 

 mation intended to give the claws a more secure 

 attachment. 



The osseous framework in general is moulded 

 upon the same plan as that of the ant-eaters. Slow 

 in their motions, and unfurnished with weapons of 

 offence, the manis defies the assaults of almost 

 every foe ; when attacked, it rolls itself up into a 

 ball, wraps its tail over the head, and raises all its 

 pointed and sharp-edged scales in serried array, and 

 thus invulnerable, conquers by passive resistance. 

 The food of the manis consists of termites and ants, 

 which it takes in the same manner as the American 

 ant-eaters. It dwells in holes which it burrows out 

 in the ground. 



813. — The Short-tailed Manis 



{Manis brachyura, Erxl.). This species is a native 

 of India, and is very common in the Dukhun, living 

 on termite ants. The specimen before us measures 

 about four feet in total length. A second Indian 

 species is from Java ; it is the Manis Javanica of 

 Desmarest. A third species has recently been dis- 

 covered by Mr. Hodgson in Nepal. 



813. — The Long-tailed Manis 



(3Ianis lowjicaudata, Geoff.). This is the best- 

 known of the African species, and attains to a large 

 size, measuring about two feet in the length of the 

 body, and about three feet in the length of the tail. 



814. — Temminck's Manis 



{Manis TemmencMi, Smuts). The present pangolin 

 is a native of South Africa. Mr. Bennett observes 

 that the most remarkable features of this animal 

 are the shortness of the head, the breadth of the 

 body and the breadth of the tail, which is nearly 

 equal to that of the body, and continues throughout 

 the greater part of its extent of nearly the same 

 width, tapering only slightly towards the end, 

 where it is rounded and almost truncate. Mr. 

 Bennett further remarks that a peculiarity in the 

 distribution of the scales of Manis Temminckii is 

 the cessation of the middle series of them at a short 

 distance anterior to the extremity of the tail, so 

 that the last four transverse rows consist of four 

 scales each, each of the preceding rows having five. 

 ('Zool. ProC 1834.) 



Habits, Food, §c. — Dr. Smith relates that when 

 Manis Temminckii is discovered, it never attempts 

 to escape, but instantly rolls itself up into a glo- 

 bular form, taking especial care of its head, which 

 is the only part that is easily injured. Ants con- 

 stitute its chief and favourite food, and these it 

 secures by extending its projectile tongue into holes 

 which may exist in the habitations of these insects 

 or which it may itself form ; and when, by means 

 of the glutinous matter with which its tongue is 

 covered, a full load has been received, a sudden 

 retraction of the retractor muscles carries both into 

 its mouth, after which the ants are immediately 

 swallowed. (' Illustrations of the Zoology of South 

 Africa.') 



It is a rare species, the natives having a prejudice 

 against it, and burning every individual they find, 

 so that it is almost extirpated in many places. Fig. 

 815 represents the posterior view of the skull of 

 the short-tailed manis ; Fig. 816, the skull seen 

 from above ; Fig. 817, ditto seen from below; Fig. 

 818, ditto profile : Fig. 819, the fore-foot ; Fig. 820, 

 the hind foot ; Fig. 821, the skeleton ; Fig. 822, the 

 pelvis. 



