ANT-EATER (Myrmecophaga, Linnaeus), a genus of Edentala, dis tinguished by their total want of teeth and their hairy covering. The latter circumstance separates them from the Pangolins (Monis), or Scaly Ant-Eaters of Africa and Asia, which they resemble closely in other respects, as well in their general anatomy as in their food and habits. These two genera form a small but very distinct family of Cuvier's order Ede-Wats, differing from the common animals comprised in that singular group, as well as from all other known mammnlia, by their entire deprivation of the organs of mastication, and acquiring an addi tional interest by the lightwhich their osteological conformations throws upon the structure and organisation of the Megallarium, Megalonyx, and Mylodon, those extraordinary animals whose fossil remains have attracted so much of the attention, not only of the professed naturalist, but likewise of the public at large. The osteology of the skulls and trunks of these extinct animals presents the closest analogies with that of the corresponding parts in the Sloths; so the whole construction of their extremities appears to have been formed after the same model as that of the corresponding organs of the Ant-Eaters. The head of these Latter animals, indeed, is altogether different from that of the Sloths ; not only does it want the organs of mastication, of which they are deficient only in the incisors, but the bones of the face, which in them are short and round like those of apes and monkeys, are prolonged in the Ant-Eaters, particularly in the Great Ant-Eater (M. Sul ata), to double the length of the skulL This singular conformation arises from the form of the maxillary or jaw-bones, and those of the nose, which form together a kind of long tube, very small in proportion to its length, and almost cylindrical This prolongation of the muzzle is not carried to so great an extent in either of the other two known species of Ant-Eaters; but even there the construction hero described differs only in degree, and presents, on a more contracted scale, all the characteristics of the M yrmecophaga jubata.
It is in the construction of the anterior extremities however that these animals offer the greatest singularities, and become most important in their relations to the fossil species. The phalanges or joints of the toes, particularly the last, which bear the claws, are formed in such n manner as to permit them to be bent inwards only, as in the Sloths; and for this purpose they are provided with very powerful ligaments, which keep them, in a state of repose, bent in along the sole of the foot, and never permit the hand to be completely opened, but only half extended, as we sometimes see in gouty or rheumatic people. The toes themselves are of very unequal size, and even differ in number in different species. The Grent Ant-Bear and
Tarnandun have four on the anterior and live on the posterior extremities, whilst the smallest species, called, from that circumstance, M. has only two on the fore feet and four on the hind. The toes themselves, as hi the Sloths, are united closely together as far as the claws, and are consequently incapable of any separate or individual motion, but the disadvantages arising from this circumstance are more than counterbalanced by the Increased strength which it produces, and the consequent adaptation of the organ to the peculiar purposes of these animals' economy. The claws are all large and powerful, especially that of the middle too, of which the dimensions are quite enormous. Nor do the Ant-Eaters, in walking, tread flatly upon the sole of the foot like the generality of mammalia : on the contrary, they mat entirely upon its outer edge, which is provided with a largo callous pad for that purpose, whilst their toes being bent inwards along the paling, the sharp points of their powerful claws are preserved from being injured by the friction of the hard ground. In other respects the Ant-Eaters are remarkable for their long cylindrical tongues, covered with a glutinous saliva, by means of which they entrap and devour the insects upon which they live, and from which they derive their names, both among naturalists and common observers —41f yrmecophaga literally signifying Ant-Enter. This tongue is protractile, and capable of being extended to a sur prising distance beyond the snout ; it is nearly twice the length of the whole head and muzzle together, and when not extended is kept doubled up in the mouth with the point directed back wards. The oyes are particularly small, the ears short and round, the legs robust and amazingly powerful, but so unfavourably formed for locomotion, that the pace of these animals is almost as tardy as that of the sloths themselves, their greatest exertions not enabling them to surpass the ordinary walk of a man. The tail is always long: in the great species lax and thickly covered with very long flowing hair, in the other two, strongly prehensile, and naked underneath. Theso species consequently climb trees and reside principally among their branches, feeding upon the wild bees and termites which inhabit the same situations. The Great Ant-Bear, on the contrary, never quits the surface of the earth, and confines its depredations entirely to the numerous species of large ants which inhabit its native regions, and furnish him at all times with an abundant and easily-procured nutri meut. The whole genus is confined to South America, and contains three distinct and well-defined species.