Armadillo | Small Mammals Building

While at the armadillo exhibit you can share the following information with those with you. The student worksheets have blanks for them to fill in. The answers are the BOLD words in the following statements:

1. "Armadillo" is Spanish for "LITTLE ARMORED ONE”.

2. During the Great Depression of the 1920’s, armadillos were nicknamed “HOOVER HOGS” by the people who ate them. The name was a bitter jab at President Herbert Hoover, who had promised “a chicken in every pot” but had instead presided over a collapse of the US economy following World War I.

3. Armadillos haven't always been small. In the past there was the Glyptodont which weighed over 4,400 POUNDS. This is more than a VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE!

4. The nine-banded armadillo is the official state animal of TEXAS. Nine-banded armadillos always give birth to FOUR identical young — the only mammal known to do so. All FOUR young develop from the same egg.

5. When frightened, nine-banded armadillos will jump vertically about 3-4 FEET in the air. Scientists believe this is a defense mechanism for scaring potential predators.

6. Armadillos use their strong claws to dig several burrows throughout their home range in which to live and seek refuge from extreme weather or predators. Their burrow is about 7-8 FEET WIDE and up to 15 FEET DEEP.

7. Armadillos are also good SWIMMERS and can hold their breath for up to 6 MINUTES.

BONUS - EVIDENCE FOR DESIGN!

This one is so amazing that there's only one piece for you. One way that armadillos conserve energy is through reta mirabila (Latin for “miraculous net”) A giraffe also has this amazing feature for another reason we'll talk about when we're there.

The arteries and veins lie side by side in the Armadillos legs.

The "miraculous net" system is composed of blood vessels meshed together in such a way that the hot blood going out through arteries is cooled by cold blood coming in through veins, and vice versa. Blood pumping through the arteries is warm because it's leaving the trunk and moving towards the distant parts of the body.

This means that not much heat actually goes out into the legs, keeping it in the body. This also means they'll get frostbitten very easily, since they have no way to warm their extremities through blood flow.

GO TO THE FENNEC FOX EXHIBIT NEXT.