Armadillo

Design

Since the armadillo is almost blind, God equipped it with an excellent sense of smell and good hearing so it can locate food and escape predators. The armadillo can store enough oxygen to allow it to stop breathing for up to 6 minutes. This allows it to float across rivers and survive flash floods. It can also cross rivers by holding its breath and walking along the bottom. The armadillo is able to live in regions with hot days and cold nights because of its wonderfully-designed heating system. This system allows heat to be transferred from the arteries right to the veins without going to the legs first.

Features

• The small body of the armadillo is almost completely surrounded by many strong bony plates (tail included in most species).
• It has a long, sticky tongue used to capture insects.

Fun Facts

• Most armadillos cannot roll up into balls, as many people have believed. Their plates prevent it. (Only one species can since its shell is divided into three sections giving it “flexibility”).
• Some armadillos can jump as high as 3 ft (1 m) straight up to confuse or avoid predators.
• Most armadillos have a litter of four young—two males and two females.

Created Kind Members

Six-banded armadillo, long-nosed armadillo, giant armadillo, fairy armadillo