![]() ![]() “The young are born with leathery skin, which makes them more susceptible to becoming someone else’s dinner until the armor hardens,” says Dr. Natural predators of armadillos include coyotes, bobcats, and hawks. Armadillo Prey and PredatorsĪrmadillos also have very long claws, which they use for digging burrows, foraging for food, and escaping predators by digging a trench until only their armor shows. “Only a couple of species of armadillo can actually roll completely into a ball, and the nine-banded armadillo is not one of them,” says Dr. ![]() They cannot, however, roll up into a ball. When startled, they can jump a few feet straight up into the air.The female gives birth to four genetically identical young from a single fertilized egg.They have a lower body temperature than, and about half the metabolic rate of, other “placental mammals” (a classification that includes dogs and cats).They can cross small bodies of water by holding their breath as they walk along the bottom.Some other oddities of the nine-banded armadillo include: The armor is made from the same substance as bone and horns. The most distinctive is the armor on their backs, which is why they were called “little armored one” by the Spanish settlers that first encountered them. Strange CreaturesĪlong with sloths and anteaters, armadillos are classified in the superorder Xenarthra, which literally translates to “strange joints.” In addition to the skeletal anomaly that earned them this name-having extra joints in their backbones-these creatures have plenty of other strange features. Only the nine-banded armadillo is found in the United States-so don’t expect to encounter the pink fairy armadillo (at less than 6 inches long, the smallest species, which lives in Argentina) or the screaming hairy armadillo (also from South America) on a walk through the landscapes of Illinois. More than 20 species of armadillos live in warm, humid climates in North, Central, and South America. Julia Whittington, director of the Wildlife Medical Clinic, part of the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in Urbana, shares some fascinating facts about these new natives, whose range has been expanding northward from in the southeastern United States over the past century as temperatures rise and winters become milder. With confirmed sightings last August, nine-banded armadillos are now part of the wildlife scene in east central Illinois.ĭr. ![]()
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