Nine-banded Armadillo
Dasypus novemcinctus
Description 3
The leathery skin and the carapace of bone-like plates on the back, sides, tail, and top of the head are the prominent identifying features of this animal. The head is small, tapering to a pig-like snout adapted for rooting, and the relatively large ears are about half the length of the head.Forelimbs possess four digits and the hind limbs have five. The short, muscular limbs and the long, sharp, curved claws are additional adaptations for a digging/rooting forager.
Habitat 4
Nine-banded armadillos are primarily found in forest and scrub-brush areas in tropical and temperate regions. They prefer forests over grasslands because they forage in forest litter for small invertebrates. Their preference for wet areas may be because of increased availability of food sources in wet areas and softer soil, which makes digging and burrowing easier. Burrows vary in size, but can be up to 5 m long and 2 m deep.
Conservation status 5
Due to their high reproduction rate and expanding distribution, nine-banded armadillos are not considered in any danger.
Sources and Credits
- (c) okaloosascience, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by okaloosascience
- (c) http://www.birdphotos.com, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Nine-banded_Armadillo.jpg/460px-Nine-banded_Armadillo.jpg
- (c) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/11525993
- Adapted by okaloosascience from a work by (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/25064457
- Adapted by okaloosascience from a work by (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/25064467
