CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 8. EDENTATA 
461 
OEYCTEEOPUS CAPENSIS, OR AAED-VARK, AMONG THE ANT-HILLS. 
ORDER 8. EDENTATA. 
The word Edentata is derived from tlie Latin, and signiiies without teeth; hence its applica- 
tion to this remarkable order, whose distinguishing characteristic is the total absence of the inci- 
sor teeth in all the species, with the exception of one Armadillo, in which a single tooth is found 
in each intermaxillary bone, but placed so completely at the sides, that the front of the mouth 
is quite destitute of teeth. The canine teeth are also deficient in most of the species, and some 
are even destitute of molars, so that the jaws exhibit no trace of teeth. The teeth that do exist 
are exceedingly simple in their construction and quite destitute of roots, and the formation of 
all the teeth is very similar. The structure of the skeleton varies considerably according to the 
particular habits of the animals ; in some it is adapted for terrestrial progression, while in others 
it is remarkably fitted for climbing upon trees. The toes are furnished with very long and pow- 
erful curved claws. The skin is sometimes covered with hair, sometimes with horny or even bony 
scales or plates ; the external ear is frequently wanting, and the tail varies greatly in its develop- 
ment, being sometimes of great length, sometimes rudimentary. The mammae are two in num- 
ber, and placed on or near the breast, and with the exception of the Armadillos, the species always 
produce a single young one at a birth. 
The Edentata are all confined to the tropical parts of the world, and principally to the southern 
hemisphere. They are sluggish animals, for the most part nocturnal in their habits; some of them 
live upon vegetable and some upon animal food ; the former are arboreal in their habits, while 
the latter are terrestrial, and generally burrow in the earth. They are mostly of small or mod- 
erate size; but the remains of some gigantic extinct species have been found in South America, 
which is the country in which the existing Edentata most abound. These are grouped in five 
families, as follows: the Braclypides^ the Dasypides^ the Orycterojndes^ihQ Myrmccophagides^ and 
the Manides, 
THE BEADYPIDES, OR SLOTHS, 
In these animals, which are found only in the hottest parts of South America, the head is 
small and rounded, and the jaws short, so that the face projects very little in front of the cranium. 
