320 
MAMMALIA. 
hair underneath, and capable of being twisted round any object. 
These species are the Tamandua (M. tamandua , Cuv.), an Ant- 
eater about three feet long, which divides its sphere of action 
between the ground and the thick foliage of trees, and the Little,, 
or Two-toed Ant-eater (AT. dydactyla , Linn.), so called because 
it has only two toes, instead of four, on the front feet. This 
latter species is a native of Brazil and Gruiana. It hut seldom 
descends to the ground, and is not much larger than a Bat. The 
Fig. 126.— Short-tailed Pangolin [M. brachyura, Erxleben). 
female of this species also brings forth hut one at a birth, ^which 
she places in a nest, lined with leaves, formed in a hole in 
a tree. 
The Pangolins (Manis, Linn.) — The Pangolins are also Ant- 
eaters, hut the peculiar nature of the covering of their bodies will 
not allow them to be classed with the preceding family. The 
hair of their coat is glued together so as to form large scales, 
inserted in the skin in nearly the same way as the nails of a 
Man, and lapping one over the other, like the slates of a roof. 
These scales cover the whole body and legs, except the belly 
and lower portions of the head. Hence, from their strong 
resemblance to Beptiles, the name Scaly Lizard has been 
applied to these creatures. 
The Pangolin (from the J avanese word Pangoeling , meaning to 
