EDENTATA—TOOTHLESS QUADRUPEDS.
THIS order is usually known as the Edentata, which means animals which are toothless; and yet this does not infer that all the animals included in this group are completely devoid of teeth, although this really is the case with several species—but in the majority of these animals only the incisors are missing, so that there is an empty space in the front of their jaws.
All the animals of this group have their limbs terminated by very strong claws, which are used for climbing or scratching. Some of these animals instead of being clothed with hair, are covered with scales—a peculiarity which adds to the strangeness of their appearance; they are all rather clumsy in form, slow in their motions and possessed of very little intelligence.
Their habits and manner of feeding differ much in the various families—some living on vegetables, others on animal substances; some burrowing in holes, others living on trees. All are natives of the warm regions, both of the Old and New World; and the larger number of them are found in South America. They never attain great size, the largest species measuring about three feet in length, not including the tail.
The Edentata, or Toothless Quadrupeds, include five families—the Sloths, Armadillos, Ant-eaters, Aard-vark and Pangolins.
THE SLOTH FAMILY.
SLOTHS.
The Sloths are a strange kind of animal, which, from their more prominent characteristics and climbing habits, were for a long time classed among the Monkeys. When they are examined on the ground they appear deformed and incapable of active motion, for they can only move with extreme slowness. This peculiarity is the origin of their name. In fact, their fore-legs are so much longer than the hind ones, that in walking they are obliged to drag themselves along on their knees.
But if we follow its motions on a tree, in the midst of those conditions of existence which are natural to it, the Sloth leaves on our mind a very different impression. We then recognize that there is in them no want of harmony, and that they, like every other creature, possess the means of protecting themselves from the attacks of their enemies. They embrace the branches with their strong arms, and bury in the bark the enormous claws which terminate their four limbs.