On what continents do armadillos live? and got the best answer
Reply from ~VESNA-LETO~[guru]
Armadillos, armadillos (Dasypodidae) are a family of mammals of the order edentate.
Appearance
These are the only modern mammals whose body is covered on top with a shell formed by dermal ossifications. The shell consists of the head, shoulder and pelvic shields and a number of hoop-like stripes encircling the body from above and from the sides. The parts of the shell are interconnected by elastic connective tissue, which gives mobility to the entire shell. On top of the carapace lie thin horny plates of square or polygonal shape, formed by the epidermis. The same scutes form armor on the limbs; the tail is covered with bone rings. The armadillo's belly and inner parts of its paws are soft, unprotected, and covered with coarse hair. Hairs also grow between bone plates; sometimes horny scales also penetrate. The color of the shell varies from brown to pink, the hair - from grayish-brown to white.
The physique of armadillos is squat and heavy. Body length from 12.5 (frilled armadillos) to 100 cm (giant armadillo); weight from 90 g to 60 kg. The length of the tail is from 2.5 to 50 cm. The muzzle is short and triangular, or elongated. The eyes are rather small, with thick eyelids. The limbs are short but strong, adapted for digging. The front paws are 3-5-toed with powerful, sharp, curved claws, the hind paws are 5-toed. The skull is flattened in the dorsoventral direction. No other family of mammals has such a variable number of teeth - from 28 to 40 (the giant armadillo has up to 90). The number of teeth varies not only among different species, but also among different individuals. The teeth of armadillos are small, without enamel and roots, and of the same cylindrical shape. They grow constantly. The tongue of many species is long and sticky, used to capture food. Armadillos have a well-developed sense of smell and hearing, but poor vision. They are color blind. Metabolism is reduced; Body temperature depends on the external environment and can drop from 36° to 32°C. These animals cannot tolerate negative temperatures, which limits their spread to the poles.
Lifestyle and nutrition
Armadillos inhabit the steppes, deserts, savannas and forest edges of Central and South America. Only the nine-banded armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus, is found in the central and southeastern United States, reaching as far north as Nebraska.
Armadillos are nocturnal, hiding in burrows during the day. Most are solitary; Pairs and small groups are less common. They lead a terrestrial lifestyle; They are excellent diggers, digging holes for themselves and digging up food. They can run quite fast; know how to swim. When in danger, they flee, hiding in the bushes, or quickly bury themselves in the ground. Only three-banded armadillos (Tolypeutes) are able to curl up into a ball, like a hedgehog. The respiratory tract of armadillos is voluminous and serves as a reservoir of air, so these animals can hold their breath for 6 minutes. This helps them cross bodies of water (often armadillos simply cross them along the bottom). The air taken into the lungs compensates for the weight of the heavy shell, allowing the armadillo to swim.
Most armadillos feed on insects, including ants and termites, their larvae and other invertebrates; may also eat carrion, small vertebrates and, occasionally, parts of plants.
Danila Zheglov
Student
(103)
correct 5
They can be considered the most unusual of the edentates. These animals are dressed in armor that looks more like chain mail. Only the armadillo's armor is made not of metal, but of bone plates. A modern armadillo weighs no more than 60 kilograms, and its body length does not exceed a meter. The unique armadillo is an animal in armor, the hero of this article.
Armadillo equipment
Most of these animals have a shell, which consists of separate hoop-like stripes that encircle the animal’s body on top and on the sides. In addition, the top of their head is covered with bone and keratinized plates in the form of a “cap”, and the tail, like a club, is completely covered with conical scutes.
The armored stripes on the body are not solid; they are delimited by soft, stretchable fabric, thanks to which, in moments of danger, the animal can curl up into a ball, protecting its bare abdomen. In some species, these stripes grow together in front and behind, and by several movable stripes in the middle part of the body one can recognize the type of armadillo: “six-banded”, “nine-banded”. And the bristly armadillo can have up to 18 such belts of stripes.
And they are not at all incomplete
Although armadillos are classified as edentates, they have plenty of these organs. Some animals can boast more than 20 teeth on each jaw. The thing is that the sizes of the dental organs are very small. These non-enamel dentin posts are the same size and are evenly spaced along the jawbone. This structure of the teeth can be explained by the fact that armadillos feed on small invertebrate animals, and the food is “chewed” by the stomach, which in the anterior section is covered with sharp keratinized plates. Most species have a long and sticky tongue, which the animal uses to grab food. Armadillos are able to hear and smell perfectly, but they have poor vision and cannot distinguish colors at all.
Lifestyle of armadillos. How is life when you are always dressed in armor?
Armadillos are classified as terrestrial animals. Although they are clumsy, they can run quite well and quickly. The animal has long, powerful claws on its front paws, with which it digs deep holes and digs out anthills. Armadillos are capable of burrowing into loose soil at great speed, literally in a few seconds. And all thanks to the active work of the front clawed paws. Of course, the armadillo, unfortunately, does not have the same art of making holes as the mole. But the huge size of the minks they dug is amazing. This especially angers farmers who discover traces of an “armored-digger” on their lands.
This is not all the skills of armadillos!
Despite their weight and clumsiness, the animals even know how to swim. Their respiratory tract is designed so that an armadillo can hold its breath for as long as 6 minutes. During this time, the animal manages to swim across a body of water with “fishy” ease, or even cross the bottom on foot.
How do armadillos reproduce?
Most armadillos are loners. Only occasionally can you see a couple or a small group of animals.
Female armadillos give birth to several babies, which develop from one egg, so the babies have the same sex. Strange as it may sound, the offspring are in the armadillo litter, and you can count from a few to more than a dozen babies. Small newborn animals are born sighted, covered with soft skin. Within a few hours they begin to walk, but remain close to their mother for several more months. Armadillos reach sexual maturity around 2 years of age.
Enemies of armadillos in nature
In addition to angry farmers, armadillos also have enemies - wolves, coyotes, cougars, dogs, people and cars. A favorite delicacy of Latin American hunters is armadillo meat. Souvenirs and national musical instruments are made from the hard shell.
Watch out, armadillo!
Often, when going out onto the highway, armadillos die under the wheels of cars.
Three-banded armadillo Do you recognize the animal? No, this is not an artificial ball, not a coconut, or even a prop from any movie. This is quite a modern animal.
Armadillos, or armadillos as they are called in Latin America, are also called “pocket dinosaurs.” This figurative expression is justified not only by their appearance, but also by the fact that armadillos are indeed very ancient animals. They appeared on Earth about 55 million years ago, and the very “armor” that gave them their name—the shell covering the skin of these animals—helped them survive. Translated from Spanish, "armadillo" means "armor-bearer."
The armadillo family belongs to the order of edentates. Its representatives have teeth without enamel and roots, and no incisors or fangs (with the exception of some species of sloths). The structure of the teeth unites these animals into one group.
Panochthus frenzelianus
In ancient times there were much more edentates than today. Some of them, for example, giant sloths, or megatheriums, reached the size of an elephant. Mylodons were the size of a bull, and the giant armadillos were the size of a rhinoceros. All of them, like today's species, fed on leaves, bending trees to the ground. According to some reports, the ancient inhabitants of South America kept giant sloths in special pens as meat animals. Nowadays there are only three families left in the detachment: in addition to armadillos, it includes sloths and anteaters.
In most armadillos, the shell consists of separate hoop-like stripes that encircle the body from above and from the sides. In addition, the top of the head is covered with a layer of bone and keratinized plates, like a “cap”; and the entire tail is covered in conical shields. The stripes on the body are connected to each other by soft, stretchable fabric, which allows the animals to curl up into a tight ball when in danger, protecting their bare abdomen, covered with sparse bristly hair. Sometimes in the anterior and posterior sections of the body the stripes grow together, leaving a few movable ones in the middle part: based on the number of such movable stripes, armadillos are called “six-banded”, “nine-banded”; bristly armadillos have 18 such stripes-belts.
Now there are about twenty species of armadillos. These animals live in the New World, mainly in South America, and only one species is found in the south of North America. In the villages of Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Bolivia you can see the following picture: children play football with a large and heavy ball. When the game ends, the ball suddenly turns around and trots away on short legs. This living toy is the armadillo.
The largest armadillo is gigantic, its length reaches one and a half meters or more, its weight is sixty kilograms. It is also called “giant tattoo”. He has huge, powerful claws - few other animals have these: the length of the largest claw on the third toe of the front paw reaches 203 millimeters! With these claws, the tattoo giant easily cracks and tears apart termite mounds as hard as stone, and tears apart tree trunks. The giant armadillo has a huge number of teeth in its mouth: from sixty-five to one hundred; among animals, only dolphins have more. It’s not easy to see the giant’s tattoo - he is very careful, emerging from his underground shelter only at night.
The diet of these amazing animals is based on insects - termites and ants. To make it more convenient for armadillos to obtain food for themselves, nature provided them with an elongated muzzle, a sticky long tongue, and paws adapted for active digging. Representatives of many species do not hesitate to diversify their menu with other types of insects, larvae, and sometimes carrion. There are no predatory instincts in these animals, and even with all the desire to catch game, being clad in knightly armor, it is a futile task.
But predators - cougars, coyotes, wolves - are happy to consider armadillos as an object of hunting, and to save their lives, wearers of armor have to use many cunning tricks.
Other specimens that do not have this ability try to hug the ground as tightly as possible to protect their soft belly and burrow into the soil. Rumor claims that even asphalt is no barrier for the claws of armadillos - sensing danger, they will quickly scatter asphalt chips to the sides and burrow into a layer of crushed stone.
Another move taken by battleships in moments of danger is to sharply straighten all four limbs and soar upward like a torpedo, suddenly jumping and just as suddenly falling on the discouraged enemy. But the biggest luck is if the armadillo hole is nearby. Then he forgets about all the tricks and rushes headlong to the safest shelter. On its territory, it is invulnerable even to a super strong enemy who managed to grab the victim by the tail: the animal rests against the walls of the hole with all its paws and the edges of its shell so tightly that without a shovel it is impossible to remove it from there.
There are not many of these wonderful animals left in South America: some locals believe in the magical power of the armadillo and try to kill it to make amulets from its bones.
The tiniest armadillo is the small mole, or pink, picisiego. Its length is 15 centimeters, its weight is 90 grams, this animal easily fits in the palm of your hand. It lives in the dry plains of western Argentina, covered with cacti and thorny bushes. Pichisiego, like a mole, almost never emerges from the underground to the surface. It has a thin pinkish shell, which grows to the body not along the entire back, but only in a narrow strip along the ridge. The sides and belly are not protected by armor, but the back of the pichis is securely covered with a special shield. Climbing into the hole, he plugs the entrance, so it turns out to be a real armored door. Like other armadillos, Pichisiego quickly buries itself in the sand when escaping pursuit.
The armadillo's shell resembles armor covering the back, sides, paws, head in front and tail on top, and only sparse coarse hair grows on the belly. Armadillos are born with soft horny armor, but after a few weeks it hardens and forms a shell similar to a turtle.
It is curious that the body temperature of these animals fluctuates greatly depending on the ambient temperature. Armadillos are usually nocturnal: during the day they sleep in their burrows, and at dusk they climb to the surface and tear apart anthills, collecting ants with their sticky tongue. Armadillos and other insects eat, as well as snails, worms, snakes, berries and roots.
Nine-banded armadillos, or tattoos, are of great interest to scientists because they are always born as same-sex twins, and their number is usually four, rarely eight, but sometimes as many as twelve. This rare property gives geneticists and psychologists the opportunity to observe the development of identical twin armadillos in different conditions in order to understand how the same set of genes - innate properties - determines the behavior and character of a living creature.
The nine-band tattoo was named for the nine transverse rings of armor that are located between the chest and sacral shields. The shell of the tattoo, like that of other soft armadillos, is light, thin, and bends easily. However, contrary to legends, the nine-banded armadillo is not at all capable of protecting itself from pursuers by curling up, like a hedgehog, into a ball, thus hiding its easily wounded belly. Only two types of armadillos can curl up: the Laplatan and the Brazilian.
Tattoos are vulnerable to the teeth of large predators. In Mexico, Indians hunt armadillos with the help of specially trained dogs. An animal is not able to escape from a person, much less from a dog in the open. But as soon as the armadillo gets to the thorny thickets, pursuing it becomes useless: protected by its shell from thorns and sharp grass, the armadillo easily and quickly makes its way through any of the densest bushes.
Mexicans count meat armadillo, similar in taste to pork, a great delicacy. Even in ancient times, the Aztecs exchanged armadillos for cocoa grains at markets.
Armadillos bring significant benefits by destroying harmful insects; They rummage in the ground for hours, looking for beetles and various larvae. By the way, the tattoo has an excellent sense of smell: for example, it can smell a worm twenty centimeters underground. Some armadillos are even specially tamed and kept on farms as pest killers. True, Mexican farmers complain that livestock sometimes injure their legs when falling into holes dug by armadillos, and that they sometimes spoil crops and even destroy entire groves. But in general, these clumsy animals attract people's sympathy.
In captivity, armadillos reproduce poorly and rarely reach their maximum age, but in natural conditions they live up to ten years. More recently, scientists have discovered that these animals are susceptible to some diseases common among humans. The most serious of them is leprosy. Doctors finally have the opportunity to carefully study a terrible and ancient disease that still affects people, and learn how to treat it more successfully.
Armadillos are excellent swimmers. When it is necessary to cross a small river or stream, the animals swallow more air, inflate their belly, and then even the heavy shell does not prevent them from swimming. In addition, armadillos can hold their breath for quite a long time—six minutes. Therefore, sometimes they simply cross small rivers along the bottom. The ability to hold their breath helps these animals escape from enemies - they go into the water, lie down at the bottom of the reservoir, or walk along the bottom and get to the shore far from their pursuers.
The body of the armadillo is perfectly adapted for digging, and this is no coincidence: after all, by rummaging in the ground, it obtains food for itself, and by burrowing into the soil with lightning speed, it escapes from its pursuers. The armadillo has short strong legs with long claws, powerful muscles of the shoulder girdle, wide ribs, and many blood vessels on the legs, which quickly saturate the muscles with oxygen during moments of intense digging. All this helps him dig the ground with amazing speed. There is a known case when an armadillo, desperately working with its paws, broke through the asphalt on the road in a minute and went underground. Moreover, while quickly tearing up the ground, armadillos do not breathe for several minutes, so as not to suffocate in the dust that they raise during work.
Scientists have kept armadillos at home more than once. They are easily tamed, but at night they behave like real robbers - they overturn chairs, break everything that gets under their paw.
In dangerous situations, the female can artificially delay childbirth for two years. There are from 1 to 12 heirs in a litter, and in pairs nine-banded armadillos Several same-sex twins are born at a time. The cubs are born sighted, the very next day they are able to move independently, but for several months they still remain in the bosom of the family, under the reliable supervision of their parents.
It was important for scientists to learn how to raise newborn armadillos in captivity in order to be able to observe the development of the twins. This turned out to be difficult. A female armadillo was brought into the laboratory just before her babies were due to be born. The cubs were born safely, but then for some reason the mother sometimes devoured them, and sometimes did not want to feed them. It was necessary to remove the cubs from their mothers.
They were placed in plastic boxes, wrapped in diapers, and placed on special warming mats. During the day, zoologists fed the babies in the laboratory and took them home at night. Every two hours they got up when the alarm rang to feed the cubs. The babies could not learn to suck and swallow, so it was not possible to feed them from a nipple or pipette. I had to use a special feeding tube, which was inserted into the tiny ventricles of the little armadillos. When at least three of four twins survive, they are still of scientific interest to researchers; if only two of the four “twins” remain, their value is from a scientific point of view significantly less. If only one of the four armadillos born together survives, he simply turns into a funny and cute pet, but ceases to be an object of research for doctors. Recently, scientists have finally found a way to nurse twins.
Although armadillos are relatively easy to keep in captivity, there is a real danger that a number of armadillo species will disappear from the face of the Earth before science has time to gather important information about them. For example, scientists know almost nothing about the lifestyle of a rare animal - the mole armadillo, or Burmeister, although it was discovered more than a hundred years ago. Armadillos are persecuted for spoiling crops; in some countries, there are even bonuses for their capture. This is the first thing. Secondly, the meat of armadillos is eaten, and souvenirs and musical instruments are made from the shells. Many species of armadillos are now endangered because humans are encroaching on nature too quickly.
Armadillos can often be seen on highways being hit by cars and trucks at night. Moreover, animals do not die under the wheels of cars. The jumping reflex destroys them. Frightened by the roar of a car passing above it, the armadillo jumps high almost vertically and hits the chassis of a moving car.
Many armadillos die under the wheels of cars, some of these animals become the object of hunting because of the taste characteristics of their meat, some are destroyed by cattle breeders whose cattle break their legs in their holes, and a certain number were exterminated as laboratory animals. Is it surprising that armored beasts are becoming increasingly rare? Look, another hundred years, and the planet will forever lose another unique inhabitant inhabiting it.
Inhabits forests and shrubs from Northern Argentina north to Mexico and west to the Andes. Over the past hundred years, it has spread from Mexico to the southern United States, reaching Florida, Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
Its body length is 40-50 cm, its tail is from 25 to 40 cm and its body weight is about 6 kg.
It digs holes in the banks of streams and rivers, always near trees and bushes. Such a hole is a straight passage, into which sometimes 2-3 holes with a diameter of 15-20 cm and a length of up to 7 m lead. The nesting chamber at the end of the hole is lined with dry leaves and grass. The animal often changes this bedding, especially after rains, throwing out the old one, so that rotted leaves accumulate at the entrance. On hot days, the armadillo leaves the hole only in the evening; in cool weather it searches for food during the day. Coming out of the hole, he sniffs, keeping his sharp muzzle close to the ground. Moving in zigzags, it walks about one kilometer per hour, stopping at every step to dig up a worm or insect, which it senses at a depth of up to 20 cm. If the armadillo is pursued, it changes from a mincing step to a gallop and tries to escape into a hole, from where it not so easy to extract. In the hole, the armadillo becomes wedged with its shell and paws, and its slippery conical tail is difficult to grasp.
Mating occurs more often in July, but after fertilization only the very first stages of egg development occur, which soon stop and a resting stage begins, lasting about 14 weeks; in October - November, the embryo begins to develop again, and after 4 months, 4 same-sex cubs appear. The cubs are well developed, sighted, with a soft shell. They are nursed by their mother for several weeks, and after 6 months they reach adult size.
Common enemies of the armadillo are the wolf, coyote, cougar, as well as dogs, humans and cars; a lot of armadillos die at night on the roads under the wheels of cars.
Seven-banded armadillo
Seven-banded Armadillo
(Dasypus septemcinctus)
Prefers arid landscapes of Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil. Leads a terrestrial solitary lifestyle.
Interestingly, it also has polyembryony and will give birth to 4 to 8 (sometimes up to 12) same-sex cubs.
Southern long-nosed armadillo
Southern Long-nosed Armadillo
(Dasypus hybridus)
Distributed in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Most often it stays in open habitats, in particular wide grassy plains.
Body length is 24-57 cm, tail length 12-48 cm.
Leads a solitary lifestyle. Active at different times of the day depending on various factors: time of year, temperature, weather. It feeds on various invertebrates, which it digs out of the ground, and destroys termite mounds with its powerful claws.
Savannah armadillo
Llanos Long-nosed Armadillo
(Dasypus sabanicola)
Distributed in Colombia and Venezuela. It lives at an altitude of 25 to 200 m above sea level.
Reaches a length of up to 60 cm, body weight is about 9.5 kg.
Kappler's Battleship
Greater Long-nosed Armadillo
(Dasypus kappleri)
Distributed in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname, Guiana, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. This is a solitary animal. Leads a nocturnal terrestrial lifestyle. It usually lives in close proximity to rivers and swamps.
Hairy armadillo
Hairy Long-nosed Armadillo
(Dasypus pilosus)
Distributed in subtropical and tropical forests of the southwestern part of the Peruvian Andes. It stays at an altitude of about 3000 m above sea level.
Yepes's battleship
Yepes's Mulita
(Dasypus yepesi)
Inhabits the subtropical dry forests of Northern Argentina in the region of the provinces of Jujuy and Salta.
Frilled armadillo
Pink Fairy Armadillo
(Chlamyphorus truncatus)
Distributed in Western Argentina and adjacent areas of Bolivia and Chile.
It has a body length of 12-15 cm, a tail of 2.5-3 cm and a weight of about 90 g.
Inhabits sandy open spaces or thickets of shrubs and cacti. It digs long underground passages, like moles, and very rarely appears on the surface, where it is slow and helpless. It feeds on ants and the larvae of other insects.
Shield-bearing armadillo
Great Fairy Armadillo
(Calyptophractus retusus)
Inhabits subtropical and tropical arid shrub and grass plains of Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay.
Body length - 14-17 cm, tail - 3.5 cm.
Lesser bristly armadillo
Screaming Hairy Armadillo
(Chaetophractus vellerosus)
Distributed in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay. Inhabits subtropical and tropical dry forests, shrubby and grassy plains, hot deserts, pastures and plantations. They often dig through the soil in search of food, so they are not found in rocky areas.
The breeding season is in autumn. Pregnancy lasts 60-75 days. There are several litters per year. There are usually 2 babies in a litter, often a male and a female. A newborn weighs about 115 g, eyes open at 16-30 days, and is fed milk until 50-60 days. Reaches sexual maturity at the age of 9 months.
Great bristly armadillo
Big Hairy Armadillo
(Chaetophractus villosus)
Distributed in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay at altitudes up to 1300 m above sea level. Inhabits grassy plains and savannas, including the pampas and chaco.
Body length is 30-40 cm, weight - 2.5-3 kg.
Leads a nocturnal lifestyle. It flees from the enemy or hides in a hole, or presses its whole body to the ground so that the edges of the shell tightly touch the ground. There are 2 litters per year. Pregnancy lasts 2 months. There are usually 2 cubs in a litter (often a male and a female).
Andean bristly armadillo
Andean Hairy Armadillo
(Chaetophractus nationi)
Distributed in Bolivia and Northern Chile.
Body length - 20-40 cm, tail - 9-17 cm.
In the summer, it is nocturnal to avoid the heat of the day. However, in winter it can often be found during the daytime. Leads a solitary lifestyle, digs deep holes. Rarely uses a hole twice. Omnivorous, eats small vertebrates, insects, and vegetation.
Six-banded armadillo
Six-banded Armadillo
(Euphractus sexcinctus)
Distributed north from Central Argentina to the lower Amazon.
Its body length is 40-50 cm, its tail is 20-25 cm, its weight is 3.5-4.5 kg.
Digs numerous temporary burrows in the savannah and often emerges from its burrows during the day, even in bright sunshine. The length of an ordinary burrow does not exceed 2 m and ends in a chamber. In addition, there are many small holes or, more precisely, deep holes dug by the animal in search of food. It feeds on insects, worms and other invertebrates, as well as carrion.
Reproduces 2 times a year. Pregnancy lasts 62-74 days. The female usually brings 2 cubs, which she feeds in the burrow for a month.
Pygmy armadillo
Pichi
(Zaedyus pichiy)
Distributed from central and southern Argentina, west to the Chilean Andes and south to the Strait of Magellan.
Body length is 26-33 cm, tail - 10-14 cm.
Leads a solitary daily lifestyle. Digs holes. It feeds on insects, worms and other invertebrates.
In the spring, immediately after emerging from hibernation, the breeding season begins. Pregnancy lasts 60 days, after which 1-2 cubs are born. The cub leaves the mother's burrow at 6 weeks of life. Sexual maturity occurs at 9 months.
Northern bare-tailed armadillo
Northern Naked-tailed Armadillo
(Cabassous centralis)
Distributed from Southern Mexico and Belize to Western Colombia and Northwestern Venezuela.
It breeds once a year. The baby is born naked and with its eyes closed. The average weight of newborns is 100-113 g.
Southern bare-tailed armadillo
Southern Naked-tailed Armadillo
(Cabassous unicinctus)
Distributed in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.
Body length is 65-70 cm, tail length is 15-17 cm, body weight is about 6 kg.
Inhabits both tropical rainforests and dry grassy plains. It feeds on termites, breaking holes up to 5 m long at the base of their buildings, into which it lies, preying on the inhabitants.
Chak bare-tailed armadillo
Chacoan Naked-tailed Armadillo
(Cabassous chacoensis)
Inhabits a variety of habitats, including grass fields, semi-arid or wet plains, upland areas and coastal zones of the Gran Chaco in Southeast Bolivia, Western Paraguay, Northern Argentina.
Great bare-tailed armadillo
Greater Naked-tailed Armadillo
(Cabassous tatouay)
Distributed in Northern Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Brazil.
Body length is about 63.7 cm, body weight is 5.3 kg.
Leads a nocturnal lifestyle. The main food is termites and ants. First, it breaks stumps or termite mounds with powerful claws, then reaches for prey with its long sticky tongue. It moves slowly, relying on the claws of its front paws and the soles of its hind paws. At the moment of danger, it can go on a fairly fast run or bury itself in the ground in a few minutes. He sleeps in a hole, but uses the hole only once and never returns to it.
Giant armadillo
Giant Armadillo
(Priodontes maximus)
Distributed in the eastern parts of South America, from Guiana to Central Argentina (Buenos Aires); inhabits forests, shrubs, and less often open areas. It avoids populated areas, and if it appears near a person’s home, farmers try to destroy it, since the armadillo digs up fields in search of food.
Body length - 90-100 cm, tail - 50 cm and body weight about 50 kg.
Its digging activity is very great, and one can often see edges, clearings or groves completely dug up by a giant armadillo to great depths. Standing on its hind legs and resting on its tail, it destroys all termite mounds on its way with its powerful sharp claws. His hole is dug with a hole so wide that a person can crawl into it. The main food is termites and ants, but it can also eat small mammals: mice and rats.
Southern three-banded armadillo
Southern Three-banded Armadillo
(Tolypeutes matacus)
Widely distributed in Southwestern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Northern Argentina.
Body length - 35-45 cm, tail - 7-9 cm.
Nora apparently does not dig, but uses the burrows of other armadillo or viscacha species. When in danger, it can curl into an almost solid ball of armor. It feeds mainly on ants and termites, digging them out of the ground or from under the roots of trees with its powerful paws. Pregnancy (with a latent stage) lasts 5-6 months, then, more often in November, the female gives birth to one cub.
Brazilian three-banded armadillo
Brazilian Three-banded Armadillo
(Tolypeutes tricinctus)
Inhabits steppes, deserts, savannas and forest edges of Brazil.
Body length is 35-45 cm, tail - 6-8 cm. Body weight is about 1.5 kg.
They lead a predominantly solitary lifestyle, but sometimes they can gather in groups of up to 3 individuals. They do not dig burrows; they prefer to rest in dense vegetation. They are territorial animals and mark their territory with fluid from glands located on the face, legs and abdomen.
The breeding season lasts from October to January. Gestation lasts 120 days, after which it gives birth to 1 soft-shelled baby. The shell hardens in the third or fourth week. The lactation period lasts about 10 weeks.
Armadillos, or armadillos as they are called in Latin America, are also called “pocket dinosaurs.” This figurative expression is justified not only by their appearance, but also by the fact that armadillos are indeed very ancient animals.
Armadillos are the surviving representatives of what was once a large family. These interesting animals date back to those distant times when dinosaurs lived on earth. True, since then the armadillos have become much smaller. The ancestor of this animal, the glyptodont, or giant armadillo, whose fossils are found in America, was the size of a rhinoceros, and other relatives were the size of a bull. Modern armadillos are only 135 cm long and 30 cm tall.
Appearance
Armadillos are rather clumsy animals that have a reliable shell with several rows of strong plates. This shell is somewhat reminiscent of knight's armor. In fact, this animal got its name – the armadillo.
The appearance of armadillos may vary, but some features are common to all specimens. This is a squat build, a triangular, often elongated, muzzle with small eyes, strong short legs with powerful curved claws and, of course, the presence of a shell, which consists of separate parts and has a rather complex structure. Its parts are connected to each other by soft tissues, due to which it acquires mobility, and the armor is made up of horny plates that tightly cover its surface.
Such armor covers the back of armadillos, their limbs and tail. The parts of the body that are not protected by the shell - the stomach and the inner parts of the paws - are covered with stiff hairs. The color of the shell can be different: pink, brown, gray and white. The real phenomenon of armadillos is their teeth. Not only do they all have the same structure and shape, without being divided into fangs, incisors, etc., but they also grow throughout life, and most importantly, their number can vary from 10 to 100.
Habitat and lifestyle
These animals are found on the sandy plains and fields of South and Central America. Armadillos live in deep burrows, where they hide during the day and go out to hunt at night. They feed on insects and their larvae, and are especially partial to ants.
The armadillo, despite its formidable appearance, is an absolutely defenseless animal. The only salvation for him is to quickly bury himself in the ground, which is what he actually does when danger arises.
Predators - cougars, coyotes, wolves - are happy to consider armadillos as objects of hunting, and to save their lives, wearers of armor have to use many cunning tricks. Representatives of the two species can curl up into a ball, completely covering all vulnerable spots with armor. Other specimens that do not have this ability try to hug the ground as tightly as possible to protect their soft belly and burrow into the soil. Rumor claims that even asphalt is no barrier for the claws of armadillos - sensing danger, they will quickly scatter asphalt chips to the sides and burrow into a layer of crushed stone.
Existing types
There are only five species of armadillos on our planet. The best known and most common of them is the bristly armadillo. On top it is covered with several rows of scutes, and the rest of the body is covered with thick wrinkled skin with warts. The six-banded armadillo is very similar to it. On his body he has six belts of scutes. There is also a three-banded armadillo. This animal has the peculiarity of curling up into a ball like a hedgehog in case of danger. Such a ball can be rolled in all directions, but in order for it to open it must be hit on the ground.
The largest is the giant armadillo. This animal is the size of an adult wild boar. But the smallest armadillo, the shield-bearer, is only 13 cm long. The shield-bearer is a very secretive animal and even local residents know little about it. Scientists believe that the shield bearer is an intermediate link between moles and armadillos.
There is no mass hunting of armadillos, but in some areas they are hunted for their tasty, pork-like meat. More often than hunters, armadillos suffer when they get hit by cars on the roads.
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