![]() ![]() John Wible, PhD, is curator of mammals at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. How the armadillo mother is able to do all this for her four identical babies is as mysterious as how she had four identical babies in the first place. ![]() Somehow, despite these perceived handicaps, the young born at 100 grams (less than a quarter pound) grow rapidly and are able to forage for themselves at two months. Add to that, armadillos have a lower metabolic rate than most mammals. The armadillo mother makes this all happen largely on an insectivorous diet, a generally poor source of calcium. Indeed, thankfully, most of the carapace’s development occurs after birth. Although ossification of the osteoderms begins in utero, you can imagine that birth (of four babies no less!) is facilitated by them having a thin and flexible carapace, that is, one that Building a bony carapace requires extra nutrients, primarily calcium, and phosphate. Yet, perhaps her major role is providing sufficient nutrition for her young to grow and prosper. Other than making milk for her young, the nine-banded armadillo mother is not particularly attentive, and the father is even less so. It increases the chances that some offspring will survive in an ever-changing environment, but the nine-banded armadillo bucks this by producing clones. We usually consider genetic diversity a plus for organisms with multiple births as How and why this unique pattern evolved and continues to be maintained is a mystery. Dasypus novemcinctus is the only vertebrate that gives birth to identical quadruplets every time! A female produces a single egg that, once fertilized, splits into four genetically identical embryos that share one placenta. However, because we just celebrated Mother’s Day, I want to comment on the amazing armadillo mother. The evolution and biology of the nine-banded armadillo, the state small mammal of Texas, have fascinated me for years. Dasypus novemcinctus, Nine-banded Armadillo The underbelly is not similarly protected with osteoderms, but the skin is tough and leathery. As you can guess from its name, there are usually nine such bands in Dasypus novemcinctus (as in the mother pictured here), but this varies from seven to 10. Armadillo in Spanish means “little armored one,” but the Aztec name is more descriptive, translating to “turtle-rabbit.” The carapace of the nine-banded armadillo has two major shields, one at the shoulders and the other at the pelvis, connected by a series of overlapping bands, which provide some degree These osteoderms not only cover the trunk, but the head, limbs, and, except for the naked-tail armadillo, even the tail. Today, there are 21 species, only one of which is found in North America-the nine-banded armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus.Īll armadillos have a protective shell, or carapace, made of bony plates in the skin. You can create as many posts as you like in order to share with your readers what is on your mind.Armadillos are placental mammals that first appeared in the fossil record in South America 60 million years ago. This is an example of a WordPress post, you could edit this to put information about yourself or your site so readers know where you are coming from. You can create as many posts as you like in order to share with your readers what is on your mind. ![]() You can create as many posts as you like. ![]() Here’s a caption with an image aligned right. ![]()
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