52 
MAMMALIAN GALLERY. 
able to burrow in the soil with surprising rapidity, either with the 
object of escaping danger or in search of their food, which consists 
of roots, insects, worms, reptiles, and carrion. They are found in 
the warmer parts of America only, where also the remains of their 
extinct gigantic predecessors {Glyptodon) occur in great abundance. 
[Case o4.] Iq the Old World the Edentata are represented by the Manidcey 
or Pangolins, which, with their long scaly bodies and tails, and 
their short legs, look more like rej)tiles than mammals. Like the 
Anteaters they are toothless, and live similarly on ants, which they 
catch with their tongues. The scales may be looked upon as hairs, 
or rather spines, enormously enlarged and dilated. Their long, 
strong, and broad tails form part of the protective armour when 
they coil themselves up into a ball like an Armadillo, or they use 
them as supports in climbing the trunk of a tree. Some species 
Fig. 19. 
Aard-vark {Oryctcropus afer). 
rest themselves on the tail, which is adpressed to a trunk, whilst the 
body is thrown backwards and assumes the appearance of a pro- 
jecting broken branch (fig. 18) . In order to keep their claws sharp 
they walk with them closed up against the palms of the feet, the 
backs only of the toes touching the ground. In all there are 
seven species of Pangolins, of which four are African and three 
Asiatic. 
[Case ^14.] The Tuhulidentata, or Tube-toothed Edentates, consist of one 
species only, the Aard-vark [Orycteropus ofer), a native of the 
whole of Africa, strikingly different from all other Edentates 
(fig. 19). Aard-varks are distinguished externally by their long, 
