MAMMALIA. 405 
Group 2. Edentata proper. 
This group is characterized by a pointed snout, some of the species still 
possessing cheek teeth. It may be conveniently divided into four fami- 
lies, the Manida, the Myrmecophagide, the Orycteropodide, and the 
Dasypodide. 
Fam. 1. Manip#. A small family very nearly allied to Myrmecophagide, 
differing only from it in having the body covered with scales instead of 
hairs. The habits are the same; they are ant-eaters, and therefore myrme- 
cophagous. ‘This family is confined to the eastern continent, Asia and 
Africa, and to it must be referred the only remains of Edentata found in 
Europe, a fact of no small interest, as respects the geographical distribution 
of animals. 
The genus Manis, or pangolins, has an elongated head, a slender snout, 
with a small mouth, and a long, filiform, protractile tongue ; five compressed 
and slightly curved claws on each foot. The tail is more or less elongated, 
and protected, as well as the body and head, by tile shaped scales. These 
animals live in the tropical regions of Africa and southern Asia, where 
they feed like ant-eaters. In some the tail is longer, and in others shorter 
than the body; the fore feet are covered exteriorly with scales ; the internal 
nail is nearly equal to the external. Other species have a tail much longer 
than the body itself, the fore feet hairy, and only covered with scales at 
their base and exteriorly, but the nails all compressed. Manis pentadactyla, 
three or four feet in length, from East India (pl. 112, fig. 3), is very abun- 
dant at Madras, Pondichery, and Bengal. The long-tailed pangolin (M 
tetradactyla), of the same size as the preceding, is from Senegal, Guinea, 
&c. The tail is double the length of the body. 
The genus Macrotherium lived towards the end of the tertiary epoch, in 
the centre of the old continent, in France and Germany. The nails are 
like those of the pangolins, but the teeth most resemble those of the sloths. 
A single species is known, the M. giganteum, the gigantic pangolin. 
Fam. 2. Myrmecornacip&, is characterized by the absence of teeth of 
any description ; the body covered with hairs. This family is restrictea 
to one single genus, comprehending several species, confined to South 
America. None have hitherto been found in a fossil state, but we may look 
for some yet unknown genera to fill up the present gaps in the series. 
The genus Myrmecophaga, or ant-eater, is characterized by a long, thin, 
and slender muzzle, at the termination of which is a small mouth, provided 
with a long, filiform, protractile tongue. This they insinuate into ant hills, 
and the nests of the termites, whence these insects are withdrawn by being 
entangled in the viscid saliva that covers it. The claws or nails of the 
fore feet are strong, curved, and compressed, varying according to the 
species ; the body covered with hair; the tail elongated, and prehensile in 
two of the species. The fore limbs are a little shorter than the hinder, the 
humerus short and very stout; hind feet smaller and more slender than the 
ICONOGRAPHIC ENCYCLOPADIA.—VOL. II. ‘ 3g 609 
