. The animals of the world. Brehm's life of animals;. Mammals. Zhc XCootbless Hnimals. EIGHTH ORDER: Edentata. F THE mammals comprised in this order, the day of the greatest development is past. In the earlier ages there existed in Brazil edentate animals of phys- ical proportions equal to or greater than those of the Rhinoceros; at the present time the largest members of the order barely equal in size a large Wolf. Among the extinct species there were transitional forms— connecting links—between the now existing families; at present these latter seem in many instances to be separated by wide
. The animals of the world. Brehm's life of animals;. Mammals. Zhc XCootbless Hnimals. EIGHTH ORDER: Edentata. F THE mammals comprised in this order, the day of the greatest development is past. In the earlier ages there existed in Brazil edentate animals of phys- ical proportions equal to or greater than those of the Rhinoceros; at the present time the largest members of the order barely equal in size a large Wolf. Among the extinct species there were transitional forms— connecting links—between the now existing families; at present these latter seem in many instances to be separated by wide chasms. And as was the case with their extinct kinsmen some of the species still living are nearing their doorn, and their days are. numbered The Edentata a Variable Group. exhibited by The Edentata show little of the har- mony exhibited by other orders. The striking peculiarity of dentition all the animals comprised in this group, constitutes the most important characteristic whereby they can be distinguished from other mam- mals. We find animals among the Edentata to which their ordinal name is applicable in its most extended sense, as they do not exhibit the merest vestige of teeth, while the others which are really possessed of teeth, and sometimes a great number of them, at least lack the front incisors. The teeth; which they exhibit and which from their position are strictly called premolars or incisors, because placed in the intermaxillary bohe correspond so per- fectly with true molar teeth in shape and structure that we cannot apply to them the term incisors in its full meaning. The canine teeth, which are found in extremely rare cases, also differ from'the molars only by their considerable length; the molar teeth them- selves are of a plain cylindrical or prismatic form and are separated from each other by gaps. They consist only of dentine and cement, being usually destitute of enamel; they are generally produced but once, as but few families shed their teeth. Th
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectmammals, bookyear1895
