POUCUPINt- A$'t eater. 
'97 
A ct ? elated', or porcupine Ant eater. 
The aculeated ant eater is one of those curious 
ariimals, which have been lately discovered in 
New Holland ; and is a striking instance of that 
beautiful gradation, so frequently observed in the 
animal kingdom, by which creatures of one tribe 
or genus approach to those of a very different one, 
as it forms a connecting link between the very 
distant gtenera of porcupine and ant-eater. 
This animal, so far as may be judged from the 
specimens hitherto imported, is about a foot in 
length. The whole upper parts of the body and 
tail are thickly coated with strong and very sharp 
spines, of a considerable length, and perfectly 
resembling those of a porcupine, except that they 
are thicker in proportion to their length; and 
that, instead of being encircled or annulated with 
several alternate rings of black and white, as 
in that animal, they are mostly of a yellowish 
white, with black tips ; the colour extending tU 
some little distance on the quill, and being sepa* 
rated from the white part by a circle of dull 
orange : others have but a very slight appearance 
of black towards the tips. The head, legs, and 
whole under parts of the body, are of a deep 
brown, or sable, and are thickly covered with 
strong, close^set, bristly hair. The tail is ex- 
tremely short, slightly flattened at the tip, and 
coated on the upper part of the base with spines* 
at least equal in length to those of the back, and 
pointing perpendicularly upwards. The snout is 
long and tubular, and perfectly resembles that of 
the great ant eater, having only a very small 
opening at the tip, from whence is protruded a 
long wormlike tongue, as in other ant eaters 
The nostrils are small, and seated at the extre- 
VOL. I, O 
