Brittany Smith- Pink Fairy Armadillo

For my natural history creature, I chose the Pink Fairy Armadillo. I really liked their silhouette and they're very distinct from the common armadillo that most people are familiar with. It is the smallest member of the armadillo family, weighing in at 1 pound and averaging 4'' long. Their dorsal shell is almost completely separate from the body, unique to the Pink Fairy Armadillo.

Photo from www.folkloredelnorte.com.ar

• Where does it live?

--Pink Fairy Armadillos are found in central Argentina, in deserts and arid grasslands. 

--These areas are filled with thorn bushes and cacti.

--During the day, the PFA burrows in sand that is typically uncomfortably warm to the human hand. 

--Pink Fairy Armadillos are Noctournal, burrowing underground during the day

--Often seen out after rainfall, to avoid drowning in the sand burrows, and because insects are more plentiful after the rains.

• How does that affect how it has evolved and looks?

--Long toes for digging into the sand to stay cool during the day. (Digs with front legs, kicks with back.) 

--Their tail cannot be raised but acts as a ballast when digging. 

--Torpedo shaped, and believed to be "sand swimmers," moving the sand around them as they travel through it. The bullet or torpedo shape helps the creature "swim"

--Uses flat shelled bottom as a cork to plug holes

--Bone plate at the pelvis and head connects protective shell to body. 

• How does it feed?

--Scavenges ants, larvae, snails, worms, roots.

• How does it procreate?

--Will have more than one mate

--Females give birth to one infant, shell does not harden until adulthood

• What are the differences between the male and female?

--No distinct outward gender difference

--Male armadillos have a very long, mobile phallus, to get around the shell and tail of the female. 

--Females have two mammae.

• What might be its evolutionary ancestors- what other creatures is it related to now?

--Related to large, well known hairy and dwarf armadillos

--Prehistoric ancestor is a Glyptadon, a giant, armored creature.  The Glyptodon's shell was built of tessellating hexagons of individual nodules of bone lined up against each other and fused
--Modern armadillos "shells" are the same concept, just arranged in bands

• Does it have any symbiotic relationships with other animals or plants. (such as how bees pollinate flowers or oxpeckers eat bugs off elephants)

-- No symbiotic relationships, but burrows tend to be found under or near an anthill or decaying corpse to provide "fast food" for these creatures.

•  How do they usually die?

--Natural aerial predators such as eagles and hawks 

--Habitat Destruction by Humans

--Predation by Domestic dogs

• What are their predators and how have they evolved to escape them?

--Predators are primarily aerial, the crowned eagle being one of them. Their eyesight allows them to spot the 4'' Armadillos out in the open. 

--Domestic dogs have also contributed to the predation of the species 

--The pink fairy armadillo is fast while under the sand and its coloration camouflages it within its surroundings. It surfaces randomly every 4-5 meters, then digs again. 

• Share anything else you discover that may be of interest

--Difficult to find, classified as endangered. 

--It has been reported that in over 200 hours of field time one group of researches could not find a single PFA.

--None have survived more than 4 years in captivity.

--Tracks have a small center tail line with footprints on either side

--Fossils of Armadillo predecessors were some of the first brought back by Darwin; he also noted that armadillos in general did not make a particularly filling breakfast.

Resources:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FLd_UTk4t4

http://a-z-animals.com/animals/pink-fairy-armadillo/

http://armadillo-online.org/chlamyphorus.html

I'll be starting sketches tonight!