Animal life in the sea and on the land . ded Armadillo. SLOTHS, ARMADILLOS, AND GREAT ANT-EATERS. 341 climb among the branches with great ease, and their move-ments are not then particularly slothful. 5. The Armadillo lives in a Coat of Mail.—Armadillos,on the other hand, are burrowing animals, and their strong-claws are used for digging. But they are chiefly remark-able for their thick coat of mail, which consists of hard,bony plates united at their edges. One of these platescovers the head,another theshoulders, and athird protects thehinder parts ofthe body, whilebetween these lasttwo shield
Animal life in the sea and on the land . ded Armadillo. SLOTHS, ARMADILLOS, AND GREAT ANT-EATERS. 341 climb among the branches with great ease, and their move-ments are not then particularly slothful. 5. The Armadillo lives in a Coat of Mail.—Armadillos,on the other hand, are burrowing animals, and their strong-claws are used for digging. But they are chiefly remark-able for their thick coat of mail, which consists of hard,bony plates united at their edges. One of these platescovers the head,another theshoulders, and athird protects thehinder parts ofthe body, whilebetween these lasttwo shields sever-al movable platesof the same bonymaterial extendlike bands aroundthe body, and al-low it to bendfreely. 6. How Arma-dillos protectThemselves.—When these ani-mals are attackedthey burrow rap-idly into theearth. Some species roll up into a ball, as shown in , thus securely protecting themselves. At such timesthe head and tail are drawn closely together and tuckedsnugly into a little crevice, where the two extremities of. Fix. 234 -Armadillos Rolled for Protection. 342 ANIMAL LIFE IN THE SEA AND ON THE LAND. the shell meet, and the result is a hard, solid ball, whichmay be rolled over and trampled upon without injury. 7. The Great Ant-eater.—Still another phase of life isshown by the great ant-eater, an animal four or five feet
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1887
