The Little Man In Armor

The Little Man In Armor-Armadillo

Image Source:  "Nine-banded Armadillo" by http://www.birdphotos.com - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nine-banded_Armadillo.jpg#/media/File:Nine-banded_Armadillo.jpg

1. Their common name, armadillo, is derived from a Spanish word meaning “little armored  one”.

2. Armadillos are prehistoric-looking animals that belong to a family of mammals found  primarily in Central and South America.

3. Among the armadillos hair has been replaced by strong bony plates covered with horn.

4. The armadillo is a rather interesting and unusual animal that has a protective armor of “horny” material on its head, body, and tail [dressed in a suit of armor]. This bony armor has nine movable rings between the shoulder and hip shield.

5. You could say that armadillos are crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside.

6. This shell is also very efficient at trapping air, which is warmed by body heat, and thus conserves heat loss. 

7. The shell also helps it conserve its body water in its dry forest and savanna habitat in central South America.

8. Most of the species can bring their legs in under this covering to protect themselves but it is only the three banded armadillos that can roll up into a tight ball.

9. The head is small with a long, narrow, piglike snout. Canine and incisor teeth are absent. The peglike cheek teeth range in number from seven to nine on each side of the upper and lower jaw.

10. The long tapering tail is encased in 12 bony rings. The track usually appears to be three-toed and shows sharp claw marks. The armadillo is about the size of an opossum, weighing from 8 to 17 pounds (3.5 to 8 kg).

11. Most are active at night (nocturnal) and have poor eyesight but very good hearing and sense of smell. They all have large claws on their front feet to dig for insects and for burrowing.

12. Sleep most of the day, up to 16 hrs. and forage for food in the early morning and evening.

13. There are over 20 varieties of armadillos and most of them live in Latin America. The nine-banded armadillo is a species that has moved northwards into the United States.

14. Armadillos have poor eyesight. They utilize their sense of smell to hunt.Their strong legs and big front claws are used for digging and their long and sticky tongue is used for extracting e.g. termites from their tunnels.

15. Armadillos' favorite foods are insects. Their special tongue allows them to consume up to 40,000 ants in one meal! They also enjoy feeding on small animals, bird eggs, roots, fruits and even rotting animal flesh (called “carrion”).

16. Amongst other things, armadillos even eat fire ants, so it comes as no surprise that they are closely related to anteaters and sloths.

17. They vary in size and color. The giant armadillo can get over one meter long!

18. Not all armadillos are able to close themselves in their shells. Only three banded armadillos can protect themselves by rolling up like hedgehogs.

19. The female armadillo is the only mammal that can give birth to four identical babies with one egg.

20. Armadillos are the only animals that can get leprosy like humans.

21. Armadillos can walk underwater! They don’t need to breath very often as have a very low need for oxygen.

22. A young baby of an armadillo is called a “pup”. 

23. The females are called “zed” and males “lister”. Agroup is called a “fez”.

24. When threatened, three-banded armadillos roll themselves up into a ball, leaving only a small opening between the shell edges. If the animal is prodded through the opening, it snaps shut like a steel trap causing pain and possibly injury to the predator.

25. The southern three-banded armadillo has an interesting mode of locomotion, walking on its hind legs with the tips of the foreclaws touching the ground.

26. Armadillo headplates are unique to each armadillo, like human fingerprints. 

27. Fossils of armadillos date back 60 million years.

28. Ancestors of the modern armadillos were ten feet long. Early South American Indians used the shells as roofs or tombs.

29. The dwarf armadillo  unlike most other species, it hibernates over winter.

30. Armadillos have few natural predators.

Image source: 
"Pink Fairy Armadillo (Chlamyphorus truncatus) (cropped)" by Original: cliff1066™ - →This file has been extracted from another file: Pink Fairy Armadillo (Chlamyphorus truncatus).jpg.. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pink_Fairy_Armadillo_(Chlamyphorus_truncatus)_(cropped).jpg#/media/File:Pink_Fairy_Armadillo_(Chlamyphorus_truncatus)_(cropped).jpg

31. The Pink Fairy Armadillo is one of the least-known armadillos. It spends most of its time underground and is active at night, making it very difficult to observe in the wild .   It is the smallest of all living armadillos, and can only be found in arid regions of central Argentina.