MOTHER NATURE Mother Nature September 2017 | Page 21

20
Mother Nature Aug /Sep 2017
When you think of extinct megafauna,
the first creatures to pop into your head
are usually dinosaurs or woolly mam-
moths, but there's a wealth of lesser-
known, long-gone animals that are just
as astounding. Glyptodonts, which
evolved in South America during the
Miocene (between 5 and 23 million
years ago), were equipped with mas-
sive tortoise-like shells that made them
comparable in size to small
Volkswagen Beetles.
Like many other ancient megafauna,
glyptodonts went extinct around the
end of the last ice age, while their
smaller and more lightly armored rela-
tives survived.
The largest living armadillo species,
Priodontes maximus typically weighs
about 70 pounds, though they have
reached a whopping 180 pounds in
captivity. Over the past 30 years,
giant armadillos have experienced an
estimated population decline of be-
tween 30 and 50 percent. As with
many other armadillo species, one of
the greatest threats to the giant
armadillos is widespread habitat loss,
though they are also vulnerable to
hunting and black market trading.
As one of the most
adorable Cingulata
species out there, it's
no wonder that the
Brazilian three-banded
armadillo (Tolypeutes
tricinctus) this precious
"tatu-bola" ("ball arma-
dillo" in Portuguese)
was named the official
mascot for the 2014
FIFA World Cup in
Brazil.
The lovely species, which is found in
the sandy plain and scrubby grass-
lands of central Argentina, is believed
to be declining in population due to
habitat loss and the predatory behav-
ior of domestic cats and dogs
As nocturnal animals, armadillos per-
form most of the physical activities —
foraging, eating, burrowing, mating —
at night. This means that during the
daylight hours (which can last a long
time depending on the latitude and
season), they spend their time snooz-
ing in their burrows.
Armadillos spend the majority
of their lives snoozing, but one
species known as the pichi
(Zaedyus pichiy) takes it a step
further by hibernating every
winter. After building up fat
stores and settling down in a
cozy burrow, the pichi's body
temperature drops from 95 de-
grees Fahrenheit to a positively
chilly 57 degrees.
It's no secret that armadillos are
capable of contracting and passing
along leprosy (as well as Chagas
disease). Their low body temperature
makes them perfec t hosts for
Mycobacterium leprae, so it is
generally ill-advised to handle them
or eat their meat.
You'd think an armored body would
provide suitable protection against
predators, but the screaming hairy
armadillo (Chaetophractus vellerosus)
pink fairy armadillo
The pink fairy armadillo (Chlamyphorus
truncatus) is named for its diminutive
size. Measuring between 3.5-4.5
inches in length, this creature
typically weighs about 4.2 ounces.
screaming hairy armadillo