MYRMECOPHAGA, the ant-earer, in natural history, a genus of Mammalia, of the order Bruta. Generic character: no teeth ; tongue extensile and cylindric ; mouth elongated into a form somewhat tu bular; body covered with Bair. Though these animals are stated above to have no teeth, dissection shows that they have certain bony substances, not very differ ent from them, fixed firmly at the lower end of their jaws. They subsist on in sects, and particularly that genus of them from which they are designated. Thrust. ing their tongue into a nest of ants, the glutinous substance which exudes from it serves to attach to it inextricably num bers of these insects, and when the ani mal perceives, by the exquisite feeling of the papillx, that he has secured a suffi cient number, he withdraws his tongue by an instantaneous movement, and swallows his victims. There are seven species. The following are principally deserving of attention.
M. jubata, or the great ant-eater, is an animal of a very inelegant and rough ap pearance, and more than seven feet in length. It is a native of South America, slow in its movements, and heavy in its manners, sleeping during almost the whole day ; the night it passes principally In search of food. With its fore claws it can destroy by pressure and laceration animals apparently much stronger than itself. In a state of confinement it has de voured four pounds of animal food in a day. A specimen is in Peale's Museum.
tetradactyla, or the middle ant-eat er, is far inferior in size, being little more than two feet in its whole length. It is a
native of the same regions, and is similar in its habits. It possesses, however, a prehensile power with its tail, and in climbing trees, and moving from branch to branch, is much assisted by this cir cumstance.
M. didactyla, or the little ant-eater, is about as large as a squirrel, covered with a soft and curly fur of yellow brown, and possesses considerable elegance. Its tail is prehensible ,• it resides in trees, and subsists, like the former species, princi pally on insects, and particularly ants. It is a native of Guiana. Animals of a simi lar description are found both in Africa and the Indian islands. In the former, they are stated to attain the weight of a hundred pounds, and to have such a tena ciousness of gripe, that the efforts of the strongest man cannot unfix their claws when fully stuck is the ground.
M. aculeata, or the aculeated ant-eater, is a native of New Holland, and appears to connect the ant-eater Fenus with the porcupine. It has the spines of the lat ter, and the mouth, tongue, and habits of the former. It is generally found in the middle of an ant's neat, and will burrow with extreme celerity. It will even tear up a pavement of some firmness. It is little more than a foot long, and is pre served in Peale's Museum, buethe spe cimen is somewhat mutilated. For a re presentation of the ant-eater, see kani malls, Plate XVII. fig. 3.