Page:Mammalia (Beddard).djvu/206

 simpler in structure than those which follow. The dorsal vertebrae again are not fused together; the hind-limbs are five-toed. All the plates of the carapace are arranged in definite transverse rows; it has been observed, too, that some of the anterior scutes overlap like those of the Armadillos, to which this animal possesses further likenesses in the exclusion of the maxillae from the border of the nostril (a Glyptodont character), and the comparative feebleness of the scutes.

A primitive genus also appears to be Peltephilus, which is perhaps rather an Armadillo than a Glyptodon. However, it comes somewhat between the two, like Propalaeohoplophorus, with which it may therefore be treated. A most singular feature of this genus has been mentioned on p. 27 in connexion with the skull in the Mammalia generally. That is the fact that a portion of the squamosal surrounding the articular facet for the lower jaw is separated by a suture from the rest of that bone, and is therefore obviously suggestive of the quadrate in the lower Vertebrates. As in certain Armadillos and Glyptodons, etc., the pterygoids appear in this genus to have taken a share in the formation of the hard palate. The plates of the carapace were movable, as is shown by the fact that they sometimes slightly overlap. In view of the possible origin of the Edentates from lowly-organised Mammalia, it is noteworthy that the humerus has been especially compared to that of the Monotreme. Peltephilus differs from other Armadillos in having teeth in the front of the jaws. The total number of teeth is twenty-eight, i.e. seven in each half of each jaw.

As already explained, the Old-World Edentates differ from the New-World forms in having normal dorsal vertebrae, that is to say, without additional zygapophyses. That negative feature, however, though combined with the positive fact that both the Old-World forms feed upon ants, is hardly sufficient to outweigh the many structural differences which distinguish the Orycteropodidae from the Manidae; which will be placed therefore in different groups. To that containing the Aard Vark, the name may be applied.