Armadillo Facts – The armadillo is hard-shelled land animals whose populations only live in certain parts of America. Some people think this small animal is a reptile species, because at first glance its unique shape resembles a reptile.
Almost never found in other territories, it might make people curious who just saw a glimpse of the picture. To answer this curiosity, some facts about this animal will be explored. Come on, let’s look at some more Armadillo facts, the earth digger with this unique shape and behavior.
Armadillo Facts
1. Armadillo habitat preferences are very broad
This pangolin twin is very rare in Indonesia, even in Asia. Although it looks almost similar, the Armadillo is not like the Pangolin, which is suitable for living in the tropical climates of Asia and Africa.
Armadillo habitat preferences are quite broad. Several species of Armadillo live in areas of moist soil, around rivers, open grasslands, scrublands, lowland forests, and tropical rains.
2. It has a unique shape and includes mammals
The armadillo has scaly skin, long tail, small eyes, pointed snout, and long nails as its unique characteristics. These rough little animals are warm-blooded, you know, and also have fine hair on their bodies.
Because Armadillos have shells, you might think this animal is not a mammal species. According to National Geographic, Armadillos are the only living mammals that use a shell on their body.
3. It can jump
In addition to being similar to reptiles, the Armadillo’s space for movement is exactly like that of a pangolin whose activities are mostly carried out on the ground. However, this Armadillo has a unique behavior, you know, that is, it can jump under certain conditions.
When frightened, the Armadillo will jump into the air, even if it only reaches three or four feet. When a car passes, this animal pretends to want to escape by jumping, but most of them are run over because the jump is not so high.
4. Hunting for food by using the sense of smell
Although it has long curved nails, it is not a tool to kill its prey. With its unique behavior that utilizes the sense of smell, this animal can find its prey hiding in holes in the ground or in bushes.
At night the Armadillo has quite poor eyesight. This makes them only use the help of the sense of smell to find food. This animal feeds in the form of termites, ants, other small insects, animal carcasses, and others.
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5. It doesn’t like living in big crowds
Armadillos live in the burrows they make, and uniquely one burrow only for themselves. They also do not like to live and interact in large swarms.
They can only form small colonies, but they prefer to spend time alone. So alone, they do not interact much with each other and spend more than tens of hours sleeping in burrows. The rest of the time just to hunt for food.
With the unique shape and behavior of these animals can survive in the population. Those are some facts about Armadillo, the earth digger whose shape and behavior is unique.