14 ANTARES - ANTECEDENT
arctic mammals are the whales which frequent
the cold waters in great numbers . Many of the
species are similar to if not identical with those
inhabiting the Arctic seas ; rorquals , humpback
whales , pilot whales , grampuses and dolphins
are known , also a small whalebone whale ( Ba-
læna australis ) , but the right whale does not
exist in the Antarctic . There are 13 species of
seals, including four of fur seals , which are
closely related to those found in the north Pa-
cific , the sea -lion and the sea - elephant . Among
birds the penguins are most abundant , their
rookeries being found on the borders of all
lands free from ice . The largest species is the
king penguin ; a specimen captured by Wilkes
measured 4 feet 6 inches in height and weighed
65 pounds . A gull - plover ( Chionis ) is found
exclusively in the Antarctic . A small teal fre-
quents Kerguelen , and stormy petrels , alba-
trosses , gulls , skuas and terns breed on most of
the islands . Borchgrevinck found 11 species of
fish in Antarctic waters , most of them new to
science. Explorers have usually reported that
fishes were scarce . A few species of insects
have been described by Arctowski and Borch-
grevinck . It is believed that no land animals
exist in the extreme south . Of plant and in-
vertebrate life inhabiting the Antarctic Ocean
there is a great abundance . The pelagic ani-
mals include cephalopods , brachiopods and
gastropods , which furnish food for the whales ,
cœlenterates and Protozoa . The deep - sea fauna
is much more strongly developed than the
shallow - water fauna living in the vicinity of
the Antarctic lands . Thirteen species of
phanerogamous and numerous cryptogamous
plants have been found near South Georgia .
Hooker obtained from Cockburn Island four
species of marine algæ , three of fresh -water
plants and 12 land plants , the last - named mostly
-
lichens and mosses .
Bibliography . Murray ' Antarctic Re-
search (in Geographical Journal , Vol . III ,
London 1894 ) modified
, by later articles in the
same journal for 1904 and 1905 ; Cook ,
" Through the First Antarctic Night ' ( New
York 1900 ) ; Von Drygalski , Zum Kontinent
des eisigen Südens ' ( Berlin 1904 ) ; Nordensk-
jöld and Anderson , Antarctica ' (New York
1905 ) ; Scott , R. F. , Voyage of the Discovery )
( ib . 1906 ) ; Shackleton , Sir E. , The Heart of
the Antarctic ' ( 2 vols ., London 1909 ) ; Charcot ,
"Le "Pourquoi Pas ?" dans l'Antarctique ( Paris
1910 ; Eng . ed . , London and New York 1911 ) ;
Amundsen , R. , The South Pole ( 1913 ) ;
Huxley , Leonard ( editor ) , ' Scott's Last Expe-
dition ' ( 2 vols ., New York 1913 ) .
HERBERT L. BRIDGMAN .
ANTARES , ăn-ta'rēz ( " corresponding to
Ares" or Mars , because assumed to be like
Mars in color ) , or Alpha Scorpii , a red double
star of the first magnitude , the middle one of
three in the body of the constellation Scorpio ;
much used by sailors in ascertaining longitude .
ANT - BEAR , the great ant- eater , or tama-
noir . See ANT - EATER .
ANT - BIRDS , a general term applicable to
members of certain groups of birds within the
Formicariidæ ( q.v. ) , a South American group ,
all of which subsist largely upon ants . They
have no proper oscine or singing organs , yet
some of them have clear musical voices , and
STREAM
their notes of excitement when following the
moving columns of destructive tropical ants ,
feeding not only upon them , but upon the in-
sects they put to flight , are a warning which
the natives understand and heed . All these
birds are small and long - billed . The sub - family
Thamnophiline is made up of the " ant-shrikes .
The "ant-wrens " belong to the sub- family
Formicivorina ; and the " ant-thrushes " are a
species of the Formicariina , a typical sub-
family . The pitta is also sometimes improperly
called an " ant - thrush ."
ANT - EATER , a name given to several
quite different mammals , but particularly ap-
plied to the Myrmecophagida , a South Ameri-
can family of Edentata , with the head ex-
tremely long ; the snout slender ; the mouth ,
ears and eyes small ; the tongue long , cylin-
drical and covered with a viscid saliva which
holds whatever insects are licked up until the
tongue can be withdrawn into the mouth . When
not in use the tongue lies doubled up in the
mouth . The legs are strong and heavy ; the
toes vary in number in the different species , but
in all species are united as far as the base of
the large claws , which are adapted to digging ,
but are turned under the feet when the animal
walks . The great ant - eater or ant - bear ( Myr-
mecophaga jubata ) , found in tropical South
America , is a sluggish animal , forest - dwelling ,
but entirely terrestrial ; it grows to a height of
two feet and a length of four feet , not includ-
ing its long and very shaggy tail , which is often
carried turned over its back like an umbrella .
Though timid , it is capable of effective self-
defense , using its strong forearms to hug and
tear its opponents . Its body color is gray ,
set off by a black band which crosses the breast
and tapers to the top of the shoulders , and by
white feet and forelegs . The hair is long , par-
ticularly on the back toward the tail , and on
the tail itself . It is very unsocial , spending
much time asleep , curled up with its tail spread
over it as a protection from sun or rain . As
more than one is seldom produced at a birth ,
the great ant - eater is not numerous .
Another , much smaller , species ( Tamandua
tetradactyla ) , which is also tropical , is arboreal
and has a prehensile tail . It is about the size
of a cat ; its head is broader in proportion than
that of the great ant - eater ; its hair is bristly
and short , black on the body , yellowish white
on the head , neck , forelegs and hindquarters .
A third species ( Cycloturus didactylus ) , the
little or two -toed ant - eater , is still smaller than
the tamandua and is also arboreal . Its claws
are curved and very sharp for climbing , and its
structure is peculiarly adapted for life in trees.
Besides the animals of this family , called
the true ant - eaters , are their allies , the scaly
ant - eaters or Manids ( see MANIS ) , the aard-
vark , the porcupine ant - eaters ( see ECHIDNA )
and certain insectivorous marsupials found in
Australia and belonging to the genus Myr-
mecobius . Certain birds , such as the ant -shrike ,
are also called ant - eaters ( see ANTBIRDS ) .
ANTECEDENT STREAM . If
folding
or faulting occurs across the course of a stream
slowly enough so that the river is able to cut
down through the uplift as fast as it is formed ,
and the waters are not diverted , the stream is
said to be antecedent . A well - known example
is the course of the Kanawha where it crosses
the Appalachian Plateau in West Virginia .