On our planet there are a lot of amazing and interesting creatures with an unusual appearance. An armadillo also belongs to such amusing little animals. The animal has been living on earth for about 55 million years. Ancient specimens were larger than modern armadillos, their weight reached several tons, and the body length was about 2.5 m, you can compare these creatures with hippos. As before, today animals live in South America and southern North America.
In the homeland, armadillos are called armadillos, which means "carrying armor", or even pocket dinosaurs. And all the fault is a reliable shell that covers the tail, back, sides and part of the animal’s head. The family has about 20 species and belongs to the order of not-toothed teeth, although those same teeth are not so few - from 20 to 65. An armadillo is dressed in chain mail from bone strips and plates. The photo of these creatures evokes emotion and a smile, despite their clumsiness, they run pretty fast, hiding from the pursuit.
In the villages of Mexico, Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina, you can often see a picture of how the boys play football with a heavy ball. When the game ends, this very tangle unfolds and runs away - this is the battleship. An animal can fold into a ball in a few seconds, which is not so easy to open. Another way to hide from persecution is to bury oneself in the ground. Long claws on the forelegs help to quickly dig holes, tear apart tree trunks, tear up anthills and termite mounds, let alone bury in sand or loose earth.
Today there are not so many armadillas. Local residents firmly believe that the battleship possesses very strong magical properties. The animal is caught to kill and make amulets from its bones and shell. The meat is also very healthy and tasty, so there are plenty of hunters for it. On a flat surface, the armadillas are very difficult to escape from humans and dogs, but as soon as they reach the thicket, then you can no longer chase: strong armor allows you to confidently wade through thorns and tangled branches.
The shell protects only the upper body, but the stomach is completely defenseless, it has only coarse hairs. There are only two types of ball that can be folded: Brazilian and Laplat battleship. The animal thus hides its easily injured body. But the nine-belt look and others do not possess such abilities. Armadillas are generally nocturnal: they hide and sleep during the day, and go hunting at night. Their teeth are very weak, so armadillos feed on insects, berries, snakes, snails, worms and other invertebrates. Food is not chewed in the mouth, but in the stomach, where there are sharp spikes.
Completely helpless and without protective armor,
an animal armadillo is born
. A photo of babies gives an idea of how easy prey they are in the first days after birth. After a couple of weeks, a hard shell appears. Of great interest to geneticists and psychologists are the nine-belted armadillos, since they are always born by same-sex twins. By placing animals in different living conditions, scientists observe how the environment affects creatures with the same genes.