Armadillos are cool. They have natural armor from many years of evolution.
They sure do, even their name, "little armored one," agrees with you. They're everywhere on Texas roads!
Armadillo
Don't call me names! The number of bands on their armor is generally accepted to mean how many victims they've crossed off their list...
That's interesting. Since their name is Spanish, I wonder if they're often found in Mexico and other Spanish speaking areas?
Well I've personally only seen them in the South, but they're native to both Americas, so you could see them in a lot of different places!
Hmm, I never took armadillos to be so dangerous....
-rabbit": "āyōtl" (turtle) and "tōchtli" (rabbit). The Portuguese word for "armadillo" is "tatu" which derives from the Tupi language. Similar names are also found in other, especially European, languages.
Classification.
Family Dasypodidae
- Subfamily Dasypodinae
- Genus "Dasypus"
- Nine-banded armadillo or long-nosed armadillo, "Dasypus novemcinctus"
- Seven-banded armadillo, "Dasypus septemcinctus"
- Southern long-nosed armadillo,
Tolypeutes
The genus Tolypeutes contains the two species of three-banded armadillos. They are restricted to open and semi-open habitats in South America.
Of the several armadillo genera, only "Tolypeutes" rely heavily on their armor for protection. When threatened by a predator, "Tolypeutes" species frequently roll up into a ball. Other armadillo species cannot roll up because they have too many plates.
Species.
There are two recognized species:
References.
- http://www.msu.edu/~nixonjos/armadillo/tolypeutes.html
- http://www.thewebsiteofeverything.com/animals/mammals/Xenarthra/Dasypodidae/Tolypeutes/index.html
External