GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. __________________________________/\__________________________________ / \ NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS. -----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------ | | | | | -- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --| 1 -- 3 -- |-- -- -- --|-- -- -- -- | | | | | The Aard-vark, or Cape ant-eater (_Orycteropus capensis_) is a curious form of Edentate animal, with the general form of an ant-eater, but with the bristly skin and long obtuse snout of a pig. A second species inhabits the interior of North-East Africa and Senegal, that of the latter country perhaps forming a third species (Plate IV. vol. i. p. 261). _Extinct Orycteropodidæ._--The genus _Macrotherium_, remains of which occur in the Miocene deposits of France, Germany, and Greece, is allied to this group, though perhaps forming a separate family. The same may be said of the _Ancylotherium_, a huge animal found only in the Miocene deposits of Greece. {247}FAMILY 75.--MYRMECOPHAGIDÆ. (3 Genera, 5 Species.) GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. __________________________________/\__________________________________ / \ NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS. -----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------ | | | | | 1. 2. 3 -- |-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- -- | | | | | The true ant-eaters are strictly confined to the wooded portions of the Neotropical region, ranging from Honduras to Paraguay on the East side of the Andes. The three genera now generally admitted are: _Myrmecophaga_ (1 sp.), the great ant-eater, Northern Brazil to Paraguay; _Tamandua_ (2 sp.), 4-toed ant-eaters, Guatemala, Ecuador to Paraguay (Plate XIV. vol. ii. p. 24); _Cyclothurus_ (2 sp.), 2-toed ant-eaters, Honduras and Costa Rica to Brazil. _Extinct Ant-eaters._--The only extinct form of this family seems to be the _Glossotherium_, found in the caves of Brazil, and the Tertiary deposits of Uruguay. It is said to be allied to _Myrmecophaga_ and _Manis_. _General Remarks on the Distribution of the Edentata._