Nine-banded Armadillo (dasypus novemcinctus)
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After all, it has many of the traits that characterize Americans such as adaptability, athleticism, mobility and a true sense of self.
Like turtles, the Armadillo body is covered by a carapace, a thin armor like shield composed of horn and bone. This carapace is segmented into bands. Of course, names can be deceiving, and the nine-banded armadillo can have anywhere from seven to eleven bands of armor on his back.
Sharp claws and a long snout help with digging burrows and searching for food.
Armadillos are members of the Order Cingulata, along with anteaters, and sloths. They are new world mammals, with twenty different species found throughout South, Central and North America. The nine-banded armadillo (dasypus novemcinctus) is the only Armadillo found in the United States.
The athleticism and mobility of the armadillo partly explains its existence in the United States. The first instances of nine-banded armadillos in the country were recorded in southern Texas along the Rio Grande River back in 1849. In a short one hundred and fifty odd years they have worked hard at expanding their habitat north, east and west. Their first challenge was to master the state of Texas and they accomplished this task by the end of the century.
How did they do that? Well they walked when they could, climbing across many of the possible impediments in their journey, including fences, hitched rides with the human population, who saw them as both a novelty and a food source, and they also swam when they had no other choice. Interestingly enough, an armadillo can either holds its breath and walk along the bottom of a shallow waterway to get to its destination, or it can swallow a substantial amount of air into its stomach to inflate it and help it float across a waterway.
When startled, the nine-banded armadillo can jump a couple of feet in the air, and when scared, it can scoot rather quickly to its burrow for safety. Poor eyesight is about its only physical short coming. If you are quietly hanging out in its habitat at night, one could very likely walk up to you and over your feet.
As a novelty animal, they were exported to other states for exhibit. The story goes that some armadillos were released from a Florida zoo in 1924 and began to establish a wild population in the state. Additional releases and continued northern migration of the Armadillo has resulted in the range now extending from Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. If warming trends continue the armadillo will no doubt continue migrating north.
Adaptable is another word describing the nine-banded armadillo's success in the United States. Where once it consumed mostly ants and termites, over time it has learned to become omnivorous, eating most any material found in its area including fruit, nuts, reptiles, insects and turtle eggs. Where once it was a nocturnal animal, it has learned to come out during the warmer days of winter to avoid some of the cold of the northern climates.
After all those years of hard work and some human help, it's a safe bet to say that the nine-banded armadillo is here to stay.
© 2006-2008. Patricia A. Michaels