0_Wizard
I love animals! My favorite is the Armadillo from the order Cingulata with their cool leathery shell.
Armadillos are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata with a leathery armour shell.
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Armadillo
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Armadillo
Armadillos are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata with a leathery armour shell. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along with the anteaters and sloths. The word "armadillo" means "little armoured one" in Spanish. The Aztecs called them "āyōtōchtli" , Nahuatl for "turtle-rabbit": "āyōtl" (turtle) and "tōchtli" (rabbit). The Portuguese word for "armadillo" is "tatu" which derives from the Tupi language. Similar names are also found in other, especially European, languages. About nine extant genera and 21 extant species of armadillo have been described, some of which are distinguished by the number of bands on their armour.
Pink fairy armadillo
The pink fairy armadillo ("Chlamyphorus truncatus") or pichiciego is the smallest species of armadillo (mammals of the families Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae, recognized by a bony armor shell), first described by R. Harlan in 1825. This desert-adapted animal is endemic to central Argentina and can be found inhabiting sandy plains, dunes, and scrubby grasslands. Pink fairy armadillos have small eyes, silky yellowish white fur, and a flexible dorsal shell that is solely attached to its body by a thin dorsal membrane. In addition, its spatula-shaped tail protrudes from a vertical plate at the blunt rear of its shell.
Cingulata
Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra, is an order of armored New World placental mammals. Dasypodids and chlamyphorids, the armadillos, are the only surviving families in the order. Two groups of cingulates much larger than extant armadillos (maximum body mass of 45 kg (100 lb) in the case of the giant armadillo) existed until recently: pampatheriids, which reached weights of up to 200 kg (440 lb) and chlamyphorid glyptodonts, which attained masses of 2,000 kg (4,400 lb) or more. The cingulate order originated in South America during the Paleocene epoch, and due to the continent's former isolation remained confined to it during most of the Cenozoic.
Metapolybia cingulata
Metapolybia cingulata (Fabricius, 1804) is a species of social paper wasp known for having queens who exhibit usurpation behaviors and also for having flexible behavior groups. It is difficult to tell what a specific wasp's role is just upon observation. Therefore, dissections are usually performed in order to determine the sex, and thus the wasp's role in the colony. The regulating behavior, or nest building, most closely resembles that of primitive "Polistes" models where a queen solicits liquid from a fellow worker and then takes pulp to initiate building a cell without leaving the nest. In nest building, the amount of water present in the nest as well as the activity of the builders of the nests determines the activity of the colony.
Dasypus
Dasypus is the only extant genus in the family Dasypodidae. Its species are known as long-nosed or naked-tailed armadillos. They are largely found in South, Central, and North America. "Dasypus" are solitary mammals that are primarily nocturnal to avoid temperature extremes and predation. They exist in numerous habitats ranging from brush to grassland areas and are mainly insectivorous. The most common and widespread of the "Dasypus" species is the nine-banded armadillo ("Dasypus novemcintus"), which is commonly used in the study of leprosy due to its unique ability to contract the disease. "Dasypus" are primitive mammals known for their hard armor like shell, called a carapace.
Six-banded armadillo
The six-banded armadillo ("Euphractus sexcinctus"), also known as the yellow armadillo, is an armadillo found in South America. The sole extant member of its genus, it was first described by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The six-banded armadillo is typically between in head-and-body length, and weighs . The carapace (hard shell on the back) is pale yellow to reddish brown, marked by scales of equal length, and scantily covered by buff to white bristle-like hairs. The forefeet have five distinct toes, each with moderately developed claws. Six-banded armadillos are efficient diggers and form burrows to live in and search for prey.
Nine-banded armadillo
The nine-banded armadillo ("Dasypus novemcinctus"), or the nine-banded, long-nosed armadillo, is a medium-sized mammal found in North, Central, and South America, making it the most widespread of the armadillos. Its ancestors originated in South America, and remained there until the formation of the Isthmus of Panama allowed them to enter North America as part of the Great American Interchange. The nine-banded armadillo is a solitary, mainly nocturnal animal, found in many kinds of habitats, from mature and secondary rainforests to grassland and dry scrub. It is an insectivore, feeding chiefly on ants, termites, and other small invertebrates.