Armadillos (pronounced "ball fish") are rare animals endemic to the Americas. Its natural habitats are forests, grasslands and deserts. Despite its stupid appearance and slow and clumsy movements, the armadillo has lived on Earth for about 60 million years. In terms of age it can catch up with dinosaurs.
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The youngest armadillo in the armadillo family is called a armadillo. It was only the size of a fist and its body color was pink. This armadillo is best suited for keeping as pets. After training, smart children can learn to "go to the toilet". In the wild, armadillos are best at "swimming" on the beach. They dig burrows near their nests and feed on ants. When they are afraid of danger, they can immediately bury themselves in the sand. Their heads are well cushioned to prevent them from being scratched when diving into the sediment.
Unlike armadillos, hairy armadillos have a strong thirst tolerance, and their urine is rarely very thick, which is related to their long-term inability to drink water, which also shows that they can be well controlled and reduce the loss of water in the body. This is especially important during the harsh dry season, when other animals are in crisis because they can't find water, but furry armadillos can survive in harsh environments. In the face of danger, the furry armadillo reacts quickly by lying flat on the ground, revealing only the strong bone armor.
The largest armadillo is the giant armadillo, which looks like an armored warrior in the Middle Ages. The giant armadillo weighed more than 26 kilograms and was covered with scales made of bone, like a "golden bell hood" or an "iron cloth shirt." With natural "good clothes", giant armadillos have been described as "teeth that cannot be broken, punches that do not hurt, and kicks that do not hurt". Few predators can overcome it.
The food of giant armadillos includes insects, carcasses, termites, etc. In the wild, termite nests resemble tubular chimneys. When a giant armadillo finds its nest, it supports and balances its body with two hind legs and tail, then raises its sharp front paws to destroy the nest. No wonder they can eat 40,000 termites at a time. When there was nothing to eat, the giant armadillo, attracted by its keen sense of smell, took the highway step by step, looking for crushed animal carcasses. This is very dangerous for giant armadillos because they are naturally short-sighted. Frightened armadillos often jump upwards. The jump height can exceed 1 meter. It would hit a fast-moving car and be immediately pulled into the wheels.
Another risk of death for giant armadillos is that they often invade farmland at night and destroy crops, while some daring armadillos "come uninvited" and make trouble in people's gardens and lawns, causing them unexpected deaths. Possibly due to human factors greater than being killed by predators, coupled with food scarcity and habitat loss, the giant armadillo, as an endangered species, has been added to the IUCN Red List.
There are 20 species of armadillos, of which 12 are now classified as vulnerable, accounting for more than half of the total.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the best of the armored samurai</h1>
A closer look reveals that the scales of the armadillos are not the same. According to the number of armadillos and armadillos, the armadillos are divided into six. Whatever kind of armadillo they are, they all have something in common. They like to dig holes, where armadillos live, and the ground is full of caves they have dug. Usually, an armadillo can drill several holes. These holes are hidden between tree roots, hollow trunks or embankment feet.
When faced with danger, the first thing the armadillo should consider is to leave the ground and drill into the hole. If there is no time to escape, they will roll their bodies into a sphere like a hedgehog so that the armor can protect themselves firmly. Armadillos don't consume much oxygen in their burrows. Even if the environment is completely closed, it can be maintained for 6 minutes in the case of residual oxygen in the trachea. And the armadillo's underground caves are widely accessible, so there is no need to worry about them suffocating in the caves. Armadillos digging holes can be said to be "subjective for themselves, objective for others", because their abandoned caves often become the "new home" of many wild animals who cannot dig holes.
Another thing that armadillos have in common is that they all have good water properties. In fact, many land animals can swim in the water, and armadillos are unique in that they can "walk freely" underwater. We know that in order to overcome the buoyancy of the water, crocodiles sometimes have to find stones to "eat". Not only do these stones help grind food, but they also increase body weight so that crocodiles are not washed away while waiting for their prey to reach the water at a very fast flow rate. Armadillos don't have to bother like crocodiles because their scales are better than stones.
When the riverbed is not wide, armadillos can wade across the river like a leisurely stroll, and when crossing the wide water, armadillos also have a special skill, which is to float, allowing them to swim across the river like swim maws. Central and South America is the original habitat of the armadillo. When they successfully swam across the Rio Grande, armadillos left their footprints in Texas and Louisiana. This expeditionary force became the "armored warrior who conquered America."
Armadillos are naturally worthy of the title of armored warriors, but armadillos have drowsiness, so these "warriors" can never be entrusted with heavy responsibilities. Let them guard the warehouse at night. When danger strikes, furry armadillos can scream like pigs, but if they're sleeping, you can't wake them up by any means. Armadillos usually sleep and can sleep up to 18 hours.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > excellent biomedical research subjects</h1>
Female armadillos usually live in their own areas, and when they need to reproduce, male armadillos come to the door. Armadillos are not monogamous like other animals, they live together and raise offspring. The male armadillo is arguably the most irresponsible "man", after mating, it will leave to "find a new love", perhaps it has several "wives" it can not explain itself.
The fertilized eggs of armadillos are special. It produces four identical embryos from one fertilized egg. Four embryos have the same chromosomal structure. Female armadillos can be born during the month of abundant insect food in order to avoid winter. It allows the fertilized egg to remain in the body for more than 4 months, during which time the fertilized egg does not attach to the uterine wall and is quietly bathed in uterine fluid. Once implanted, a fertilized egg develops four germs from embryonic cells and then into four fetuses. Female armadillos usually produce four young armadillos in a litter. They are of the same sex and do not give birth to twins like humans when they are multiple. Since the immune function of the four embryos of the armadillo is the same, the armadillo has become a very rare research object in genetics and embryology. It could help scientists study how the same set of genes affects the growth and development of animal offspring. In addition, armadillos can also suffer from leprosy like humans, which is also a good object of study in immunology. Leprosy, in particular, has some similarities with AIDS, which is very helpful for scientists to explore the causes and treatments of AIDS. Perhaps one day armadillos will play a key role in treating the "sinking" and "new diseases" of humanity.