Armadillos are literal living dinosaurs, leftovers from earlier eras, and the only mammals on Earth that have their own built-in armor. They mostly look more like a giant wood louse – some species are more gigantic (by comparison) than others. One of the amazing facts about Armadillo is how such an animal was created with all sophistication and in such a way that in the recently overwhelming world of technology it is easy to mistake the looks of this nature’s ingenuity for a robotic toy made in one of the High Americas became -tech labs. The image above shows a fully armored armadillo. If you are still looking for some amazing armadillo facts, here are 20 Interesting Armadillo Facts.
Armadillo Facts – Naming
1 – There are about 20 living species of armadillos, almost all of which are named after aspects of their appearance, with a startling lack of imagination. Most of these are fairly common, e.g. B. the ‘Northern Naked-tailed’, Cabassous Centralis , ‘Southern Three-Banded’, Tolypeutes matacus , ‘Big Hairy’ (yes, really!), Chaetophractus Vilosus and ‘giant’, Priodontes maximus . However, some of them draw the attention a bit more, such as the Screaming Hairy, Chaetophractus Vellerosus , and the “pink fairy”, Chlamyphorus Truncatus !
2 – The word “armadillo” continues the trend towards literal names and means “little armored thing”. It was used by the Spanish explorers who first discovered America.
3 – In 1995, the nine-banded armadillo was named the official state small mammal of Texas, and it has been nicknamed the “Hillbilly Speed Bump” or in Texas “Texas Speed Bump”. It was also eaten, especially during Depression times like the 1920s when it was known as “Hoover Hog” (because President Hoover neglected to keep meat on the table).
habitat
4 – The population of the nine-banded armadillo is increasing as it spreads across North America, but the others are declining, and some are classified as near threatened to near extinct (usually labeled “data deficient” because so few don’t know much about them are known). This is mainly due to human encroachment – through habitat destruction, poaching, hunting, mining, etc.
5 – All species are native to South America. Although two, the Northern Naked-Tailed and the Nine-Banded (or Long-Nosed), Dasypus Novemcinctus, have migrated to Central America. The “Nine-Banded” has traveled as far as Florida, Texas and South Carolina and is still sailing. The country with the most diverse species is Paraguay with eleven species. However, the greatest expansion has been recorded in North America, where the species have spread quite rapidly due to the lack of natural predators.
6 – Most armadillos live in soft, moist areas of earth or sand that are easy to dig into, both for food and to create burrows for safety. You’ll dig plenty of bolt holes with connecting tunnels and multiple entrances for the best chance of escaping threats.
Armadillo Facts – Characteristics
7 – Armadillos come in many different sizes from the smallest, the “Pink Fairy” measuring about 13 cm in length and weighing 85 g, to the largest, not surprisingly, the “Giant” measuring up to 150 cm in length and a Weight of about 60 kg.
8 – Although almost blind and deaf, armadillos can easily find out what’s going on around them as they have an excellent sense of smell which allows them to smell things up to 20cm underground. They also use the long, stringy fur on their underside to feel what’s there – more like a cat using its whiskers.
9 – A characteristic armadillo share with anteaters have a low body temperature of about 33-36 ° C and a correspondingly slow metabolism, sometimes less than half that of other mammals of similar size. This is because they don’t get much more than a minimum amount of energy from their food and therefore use less energy when resting when they are cooler.
10 – Armadillos can hold their breath for as long as six minutes, due to the weight of their armor, they can wander the bottom of any body of water if they wish. However, they can swim quite well if they want to; and to this end they have the trick of swallowing air to inflate their stomachs and give them a temporary buoyancy long enough to cross narrow ditches and streams.
11 – Armadillo diets tend to consist mostly of maggots and insects, which they dig up with their long claws, and some are like anteaters and only eat ants and termites. However, most will eat small amphibians and reptiles, frogs, beetles, larvae, and even small ground-nesting birds and their eggs if given the chance. Unlike anteaters, they have teeth, but without enamel, so not very efficient!
12 – In captivity, armadillos live between 12 and 15 years, but in the wild are believed to live only about 5-7 years. By that time, these nocturnal animals can sleep around 18 hours a day. Cool armadillo facts, right?
defense
13 – Armadillo Armor consists of small epidermal scales of horn-covered bone, overlapping for protection and based on plates of dermal bone. It usually covers the animal with a rigid section from the top of the head and forelimbs to the midsection and again over the hips, hindlimbs and sometimes the tail, and the two sections are connected by a number of individual ligaments connected by a skin that allows for some flexibility.
14 – Only the three-banded armadillo is capable of the head and tail armor filling the small gap in the middle – and this ball is so perfectly shaped and complete that the animal can literally be rolled across the ground and even dogs can’t do it on.
15 – The main cause of the nine-banded armadillo Road fatalities do not exist, as they would otherwise have, because they were hit by the wheels of a car. This is because when frightened, this species jumps up to three feet vertically in the air, colliding with the fenders and undercarriages of passing vehicles.
16 – Aside from the above, however, most of the armadillos’ main defenses are – usually to thrust into one of their burrows or directly into a thorny spot where their armor protects them and the predator cannot follow them – or to burrow to safety, if he has time. Despite their short legs, they can run pretty fast in short bursts!
Armadillo Facts – Reproduction
17 – The nine-banded armadillo produces four babies exactly every time they give birth – and these are always identical quadruplets because they are formed by the splitting of a single fertilized egg. The other armadillo species lack this trait and can have from one to eight babies in a litter, but raising babies is the only time an armadillo shares its burrow – otherwise they are entirely solitary animals.
18 – The nine-banded armadillo also uses Delayed pregnancy, in which the young do not develop immediately. They are usually born around eight months after fertilization, but it’s thought to be up to two years later.
19 – The babies are born with soft, leathery skin that hardens after a few weeks, and they will be sexually mature in a year at most, quite a bit less in some species. This is one of those armadillo facts that people often wonder about.
And finally … a modern day “Typhoid Mary” ?!
20 – Armadillos are one of the few animals other than humans that can carry leprosy – and the only one that can contract it. Their low body temperature, which the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae likes, makes them particularly vulnerable. Mind you, since humans brought leprosy to America and armadillos are from there, it’s the fault of humans for having it, not the other way around. They are very unlikely to transmit the disease to humans, usually by eating undercooked armadillo meat. If there is no cure, this can be worrying. That said, oddly enough, a Florida man is said to have contracted leprosy after having sex with his family’s pet armadillo.