cviii Edentata. MAMMALIA. Edentata. 
Order VIII.— 
'I’ooTiiLESs animals are indicated by the term of 
tills order, though all of the animals embraced herein 
are not without teeth. A few have none ; some have 
a full complem,ent of molars, and no others ; and one 
form exhibits a set of incisor-like teeth, as well as 
the usual molars. Most of them, however, agree in the 
absence of incisors and canines. 'J'hough this order 
includes many quite dissimilar forms, and those of 
widely different habits, yet, in certain points of 
structure, tiiere is a manifest affinity. The strong- 
feet and claws of most species, and their general 
sluggishness, clumsy forms, and want of intelligence, 
are quite characteristic of the group. 'I'hey are 
nearly peculiar to South America, although feebly 
repiesented in Africa and. India. 'J'he teeth are very 
simple ; there are no roots and no enameled cappings 
to the crowns. It is a notable circumstance, that 
though the present living forms of this order are 
comparatively small and insignificant, the extinct 
species are remarkable for the gigantic dimensions 
many or most of them exhibit, as we may judge 
from the very perfect remains that are found in 
the caves and various dejiosits. 
Dr. J. E. Gray, in the Catalogue of Edentate Mam- 
malia in the British Museum, 1869, places the ani- 
mals u Inch we ai-e to consider here, under two sub- 
orders, and adds the Monotremes as a third ; all 
being embraced in Order Druta. 'I'he latter term 
is the original Linniean one for these forms. The 
teeth, as given by Gray in this connection, are 
of one or two kinds, all very similar, and they are 
often entirely wanting. 'J’he grinders are rootless. 
'J'here are four free limbs — the toes being united in the 
skin to the claws, the latter compressed and elongate. 
The tongue is elongate, and the mammag are pectoral 
or abdominal. 
hlxTINCT EdE.VTATKS. 
South America is nearly jieculiar as the home of the 
Edentate animal. Individuals of this group are singular 
in appearance, quaint and extraordinary ; and there is 
an unusual dis])arity in the aspect of the various genera 
and species. One is excessively outre, and another 
eipially so in a wholly varied expression ; and this 
characteristic is vei-y forcibly exhibited in the strange 
gigantic remains opened to us from the fossil beds and 
ossiferous caverns of both the Old and the New Worlds. 
Scanty remains of certain Edentates, that seem to 
be allied to existing Old World forms, are found in 
Eurojie. In the .Miocene beds of Sansans, in France, 
and in Linz, were found remains of an extinct genus, 
which Cuvier regarded as related to the Pangolins. 
'I'his form is called Macrotherium. Prof. Owen has 
since, with more material, announced his belief that 
it is more correctly placed between Manis and Oryc- 
teropus. Dr. Geibel thinks it is nearer the Arma- 
dillos. 'The latter determination would place the Old 
and New World forms nearer together than they 
have hitherto ajqieared to be. 
-EDENTATA. 
'file bone caves of South America have furnished 
forth most wonderful and numerous relics of this 
order, indicating an Edentate Fauna of great variety 
and enormous individuals. In 1789, a Spanish offi- 
cial sent from Buenos Ayres to Madrid a number of 
gigantic bones. Cuvier, after having examined them, 
found that a sufficient number were present to allow a 
satisfactory determination of their nature, and a^ 
once regarded them as portions of an Edentate, which 
has since been known as Megatherium. 'J'he head 
and shoulders, he thought, were like the Sloth, and 
the legs and feet like a mixture of characters peculiar 
to the Ant-eaters and Armadillos. Prof. Owen 
regards the creature as having had the same habits 
as the Sloths, on a larger scale ; that is, it ate 
leaves and branches, and hung upon the inferior sur- 
face of the limbs of trees, as do the Sloths of the 
present day. An interesting discussion was induced 
concerning the probable method adopted by this 
enormous creature in securing its food. Cuvier and 
Agassiz assumed that it had a proboscis ; but Owen 
showed that the anatomy of the nostrils did not 
provide for any considerable development in that 
direction. A rare chance furnished in one instance 
the hyoid bones of a specimen. Here was the 
secret : the extraordinary development of the hyoid 
region pointed to an unusual length and size of 
tongue ; this, with the probable correspondence in 
development of lips, rendered the creature complete- 
ly adapted to its surroundings. 'This species, the 
M. cuvieri, was larger than the Rhinoceros, measur- 
ing eighteen feet in length. 'I’he femur is three 
times the thickness of that of an Elephant. Another 
species of Megatherium was found in the Quarternary 
deposits of South Carolina and Georgia, called M. 
mirabilis. 
'I’he Megalomjx is another form of immense bulk, 
allied to the preceding; it is found in both hemi- 
spheres. President 'J’homas Jefferson first described 
tlie creature in the Transactions of the American 
Philosophical Society, 1799. 'I’he term which he 
adopted, Megalonyx, indicates the stout claws which 
distinguish the great beast. Dr. Wistar, of Phila- 
delphia, placed it with the Sloths. Other specimens 
were subsequently found in the neighboring States. 
In Dr. Leidy’s Memoir on the Extinct Sloth Tribe, 
this and other species are minutely described and 
most thoroughly illustrated. Megalonyx had been 
found in South America, represented by a few frag- 
ments of claws, etc., in the bone caves of Brazil. 
North American specimens were found in Virginia 
and in several of the Southern States. 
Megalonyx dissimilis is another species, found in 
Natchez, Miss. 
Ereptodon is an extinct genus, determined from a 
tooth found near Natchez ; it is closely allied to 
the preceding. 
Mylodon is another extinct genus, first described 
by Harlan, and the species is now in his name. 
