This little Armadillo is only fourteen inches long, tail included; its scaling is very handsome, and there are six or seven bands according to the individual and age. The head is covered with close scales, which are elliptical behind, and concealed under the others in front, and the whole top has a triangular outline, hiding the eye much. The scales on the front shield are large, and are hexagonal or pentagonal, and the croup shield has the angular endings noticed in the last species. The scales of the bands and of the shields generally are beautifully ornamented with lines, depressions, and little tubercles, which are more or less concentric. There is some hair on the long neck, and on the legs and tail. The five digits and claws on the fore limbs are moderately developed, for the thumb is very small, and the fourth finger only a little longer. But the index is long, with a short claw, and the second has a stouter and longer claw, and the third is shorter. It has a slender snout and small ears. Mr. Darwin writes that it “prefers a very dry soil and the sandy dunes of the coast of Chili, where for many months it can never taste water. In soft soil, the animal burrows so quickly that its hind quarters would almost disappear before one could alight from one’s horse.” It also inhabits the Pampas to the south of Buenos Ayres, and extends from 36° lat. southward to the confines of Patagonia. It inhabits burrows, to which, however, it does not confine itself during the day. Its flesh is said to be remarkably tender and well tasting. It is a hardy species, and can live in the dreary solitudes of Port Desire on the east coast. The Cachicames, another group of Armadillos, were so called after the Indian name for a black kind, which has a very long tail, and which is the type of it. The two kinds included in the group have four fingers, and five toes, which are separate, and the backs of the feet are round and covered with scales. The claws are conical, and the animal walks, as it were, on the toes more than on the sole, being thus digitigrade. The teeth number about eight on each side above and below. THE PEBA, OR BLACK TATOU.[78]