228 
EDENTATES. 
protection against foes; and when thus coiled up their muscular strength is such 
as to set at defiance any attempt to unroll them. 
Asiatic Asia is inhabited by three species of the family, namely, the 
Pangolins. Indian pangolin (Manis pentadactyla), confined to India and 
Ceylon, and represented in the accompanying figure; the Chinese pangolin 
(M. aurita), ranging from Nipal and Assam to China; and the Malayan pangolin 
(ill. javanica), inhabiting the regions to the westward of the Bay of Bengal as far 
as Celebes, and also occurring in North-Eastern India. All these species agree 
with one another in having the whole of the outer surfaces of the limbs covered 
with scales, and in their tapering tails, on which the middle upper rows of scales is 
continued uninterruptedly to the extremity. In the first two species the front 
THE INDIAN PANGOLIN (£ nat. size). 
claws are about twice the length of the hinder ones; the Indian pangolin being 
distinguished by having from eleven to thirteen rows of scales round the body, 
against from fifteen to eighteen in the Chinese species. On the other hand, the 
more slenderly-built and longer-tailed Malayan pangolin differs from both the 
others in having the claws on the fore-feet only slightly exceeding in length those 
of the hind-feet. In the Indian pangolin the length of the head and body is just 
over 2 feet, and that of the tail a foot and a half. 
The habits of all the three kinds are believed to be similar, 
Habits. . . 
although the Malayan species is probably less of a burrower than the 
others. The Indian pangolin dwells either among the crevices and clefts of rocks, 
or in burrows of its own construction; such burrows extending to a depth of from 
eight to twelve feet below the surface, and terminating in a large chamber, which 
may be as much as six feet in diameter. Here a pair of these animals take up 
their abode, and in the winter or early spring give birth to their young. The 
