During the Pleistocene epoch, armadillos roamed around the rough terrain of the earth as a man-eating monster who was feared by many creatures. They were huge, approximately the size and weight of a Volkswagen beetle. Nowadays, armadillos are much smaller, 2.5 inches - 23 inches long, and weigh much less, 5.5 ounces - 14 pounds. One thing that is still the same is the shell, the feature that the armadillo is most well known for. Armadillos have changed A LOT from the B.C. There are over 20 species of armadillos and only 1 species lives in North America, the nine-banded armadillo. It likes to live in warm places with an abundance of rainfall. They prefer living in wooded areas with sandy soil. They live in the southern part of the United States.
…show more content…
They are very excellent swimmers and can hold their breath for up to 6 minutes while walking in the murky mud at the bottom of a pond. The rest of the species live in South America, Argentina, and other far away countries. Armadillos that live elsewhere from North America prefer to live in rainforests, grasslands or savannahs, and semi-deserts, arid areas (arid means areas with little or no precipitation, also to dry and barren to support vegetation) that are much like deserts, but have greater annual precipitation. Though they are usually around water, they hunt closer to living space with humans. This results in them being shot, poisoned, trapped, and hit by cars. The scientific name for the armadillo is Dasypus novemcinctus, but because of this are often called hoover hog, poor man's pork, and hillbilly speed …show more content…
First of all, they are omnivores, meaning they eat whatever they like such as beetles, plants, praying mantis, ladybugs, spiders, earthworms, ants, bees, butterflies, moths and any other insects available. As said before, they have no teeth and use their long, narrow tongues to lick/slurp up food and can smell food 2 miles away. Armadillos are not rodent nor marsupial and belong to the order Cingulata, family Dasypodidae. Their closest living relatives are the anteater and sloth, not opossum. Armadillos usually mate in late June and September, have the pups between February and May, which are always born as quadruplets and nurse from the mother until about 3-5 months. Out of the 20 species, the pink fairy armadillo is the smallest and the largest is the giant
They are very excellent swimmers and can hold their breath for up to 6 minutes while walking in the murky mud at the bottom of a pond. The rest of the species live in South America, Argentina, and other far away countries. Armadillos that live elsewhere from North America prefer to live in rainforests, grasslands or savannahs, and semi-deserts, arid areas (arid means areas with little or no precipitation, also to dry and barren to support vegetation) that are much like deserts, but have greater annual precipitation. Though they are usually around water, they hunt closer to living space with humans. This results in them being shot, poisoned, trapped, and hit by cars. The scientific name for the armadillo is Dasypus novemcinctus, but because of this are often called hoover hog, poor man's pork, and hillbilly speed …show more content…
First of all, they are omnivores, meaning they eat whatever they like such as beetles, plants, praying mantis, ladybugs, spiders, earthworms, ants, bees, butterflies, moths and any other insects available. As said before, they have no teeth and use their long, narrow tongues to lick/slurp up food and can smell food 2 miles away. Armadillos are not rodent nor marsupial and belong to the order Cingulata, family Dasypodidae. Their closest living relatives are the anteater and sloth, not opossum. Armadillos usually mate in late June and September, have the pups between February and May, which are always born as quadruplets and nurse from the mother until about 3-5 months. Out of the 20 species, the pink fairy armadillo is the smallest and the largest is the giant