Twenty-one species of American mammals with a leathery, armoured shell and long digging claws. Only the three-banded armadillos can roll up into a ball.
Quick answers
What is it?Mammal
Carnivore?Insects only
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Night
Nine-banded armadillos come out at night or dusk, foraging earlier on cold or cloudy days.
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?In places
Nine-banded armadillos are hunted for meat in many rural areas.
At a glance
Found inSouth America, North America
HabitatGrassland, Forest, Scrub
ColoursBrown, Grey
SizeSmall
Length13–15 cm (pink fairy armadillo) to 150 cm (giant armadillo)
Weight3.6–7.7 kg (nine-banded armadillo)
Legs4
Covered inArmour
Lives alone
Lives for12–15 years
Can swim
In the wild
- Where it lives
- The Americas.
- What it eats
- Mainly insects and other invertebrates dug from the soil; some species eat almost only ants and termites.
Did you know
Nine-banded armadillos always give birth to identical quadruplets.
The extinct car-sized glyptodonts, up to 2 tonnes, were true armadillos.
Often confused with
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A photo, a few hints, one guess. Same 438 animals.
