In the Unau, or Two-fingered Sloth, there is the same general
arrangement of the bones and muscles, with some important differences,
which result in there being a greater amount of bending and extending
of the foot, although the foot rests on its outer edge.
A Sloth’s face is short, and there is a broad snub nose, with round
nostrils, which are widely open. The cheeks become wide suddenly,
and the forehead slopes rapidly backwards, the eyes being wide apart
and small, but looking forwards. The head is small and round, and
as it is covered with hair behind, it cannot be distinguished well
from the upper part of the back of the neck. The expression of the
face is always the same, and the method of masticating and eating is
disagreeable to observe. The animal having no front teeth, and moving
its jaws usually only upwards and downwards, and not from side to
side, places the morsel, such as lettuce leaf or carrot, well into its
mouth, and chews at it, dragging out the food every now and then, when
it is covered with moisture. On examining the skull, the short cut
off or truncated appearance of the face is very evident, and it will
be observed that the teeth are wanting in the front bones of the face
(the pre-maxillaries), and that only the palatal part of these bones
exists. The lower jaw is strongly jointed to the upper, and the back
part is large: there are teeth at the sides, but there are none in the
front part of it. A very singular-looking cheek bone (zygoma) exists
on either side. It is not attached behind to the ear bone, so as to
cover the jaw muscles, but it has two processes behind--an upper and
a lower--which differ in shape and size according to the species. The
central bone of the nose does not reach to the nasal outlet, and there
is a system of air-cavities which is continued from the nose into the
forehead bone. In some kinds, the lower jaw ends abruptly in front, as
in the Ai; but in the Unau Sloths it is slightly angular, and projects.
The back teeth of the Sloths are very simple, and consist of three
structures, called vaso-dentine, hard dentine, and cement, there being
no proper enamel. The vaso-dentine is a kind of bony substance in
the centre of the tooth, in which there are the passages and tubes
of blood-vessels. The dentine is outside this, and consists of more
earthy particles than the vaso-dentine, and of fewer tubes; it is
all the denser and more resistant. Wearing away more slowly than the
vaso-dentine, it forms a ridge which grinds easily. The cement is a
kind of bony structure on the outside of the tooth. The teeth of the
Sloth continue to grow from below as they are worn above, and there is
no entire milk set which are replaced by those of a permanent kind.
[Illustration: SKULL OF SLOTH.[57]
(From the _Proceedings of the Zoological Society_.)]
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