Giant Armadillo

Priodontes maximus

Meet the largest member of the Armadillo family, the appropriately named Giant Armadillo. These odd looking animals cab grow over 3ft long (not including the tail) and weigh over 70lbs-- some have even tipped the scales at over 100! You'll find these solitary, nocturnal mammals in South America.

Like all Armadillos, the Giant has a really strange body. They have a layer of bony plates underneath their skin, and the number of hinged bands ranges from 11 to 13 depending on the individual. Because of their massive size they are unable to roll up into a ball. Instead, they have to burrow to escape predators.

To dig those burrows the Giant Armadillos use their massive front claws. Those same claws also help them to rip apart termite mounds. Termites are their primary prey, but they will eat other insects and invertebrates as well. Speaking of eating, did you know that an adult Giant Armadillo can have as many as 100 teeth? That is more teeth than any other mammal!

Unfortunately there isn't much else to say about the Giant Armadillos. They haven't been extensively studied, and we know almost nothing about their reproductive habits. They are listed as Vulnerable because of deforestation and hunting.

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IUCN Status : Vulnerable
Location : South America
Size : Body Length up to 3.3ft (1m), Weight up to 70lbs (32kg)
Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Cingulata
Family : Dasypodidae -- Genus : Priodontes -- Species : P. maximus
Image : Diertje Van de Dag

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Northern Tamandua

Tamandua mexicana

Today's animal is the Northern Tamandua, a small Anteater that lives in Central America, as well as in some of the northern areas of South America.

Tropical forests are where these mammals call home, and they have bodies that are well adapted to tree climbing. They have tough footpads and a large central claw that helps them to maintain a good grip while climbing, along with a prehensile tail.

Climbing adaptations aren't the only physical features that stand out on the Northern Tamandua. Like all Anteaters, they have no teeth. Instead, they have a very long long that is coated in a sticky substance that is perfect for picking up insects in large quantities. Ants and Termites are their preferred bugs, and they can eat close to 10,000 in a single day!

Northern Tamanduas do their hunting at night, sniffing out prey with their noses. They are solitary animals, and only come together when it is time to breed. There is no specific mating seasons for these creatures, and females give birth year round.

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IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : Central and South America
Size : Length up to 50in (1.3m), Weight up to 12lbs (5.4kg)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Pilosa
Family : Myrmecophagidae -- Genus : Tamandua -- Species : T. mexicana
Image :  Jacob Barnett

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Paramylodon

Paramylodon harlani

See that skeletal reconstruction? That nearly 10foot tall, monstrously sized creature?

That's a sloth.

An extinct Ground Sloth to be exact. Meet Paramylodon, a distant cousin to the slow tree dwellers we know today. (And by distant... I mean really distant. Their last common ancestor lived about 30 million years ago!)

Paramylodon lived between 5 million and 11,000 years ago, and it's fossils have been found in the United States,  Canada, Mexico, and in Central America. Notable fossils have been found in the La Brea Tar Pits, and many (including those in the image) are on display at the Page Museum there.

One rather interesting fact about Paramylodon is that is had dermal ossicles. This means that they had bony growths under their skin that gave them some extra defense against predators. While there are a few other Ground Sloth species to have that characteristic, it is not common.

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Status : Extinct for 11,000 years
Location : North America
Size : Height up to 9.8ft (3m), Weight up to 2,400lbs (1090kg)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Pilosa
Family : †Mylodontidae -- Genus : †Paramylodon -- Species : †P. harlani

Image : David Monniaux

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Brown-throated Sloth

Bradypus variegatus

There are four species of Three-toed Sloth in the world, and the Brown-throated Sloth is the most common of the bunch. They can be found in different forested areas of Central and South America, typically living at elevations below 4,000ft.

Brown-throated Sloths can walk on the ground (kind of...), and they can even swim, but they spend almost all of their time up in the trees. They sleep as much as 18 hours a day, though 14-16 is more common. They are active the rest of the time, feeding and moving and protecting their territory, but only in 2-3 hour bursts.

The home range for a Brown-throated Sloth is pretty small-- only around a dozen acres. In this range they will move from tree to tree, feeding slowly on different leaves and fruits. Their metabolism is so slow that it can take a month to digest a single meal! In fact, the Sloths will usually only descend from their arboreal homes in order to go to the bathroom. This happens only once every eight days!

Brown-throated Sloth

Brown-throated Sloths have some interesting anatomical features, including their hair-- each follicle has multiple cracks on the surface. These cracks are the prefect places for algae to grow. The algae get a nice host to live on, and the Sloths get some extra camouflage. But the algae aren't the only passengers that the sloth has. A species of moth, Cryptoses choloepi lives in the Sloth fur and lays its eggs in the Sloth's dung.

Other strange anatomy facts? Brown-throated Sloths have 10 cervical vertebrae, and can rotate their necks 270 degrees. They also have a lot of trouble regulating their body temperature due in part to their small hearts and lack of muscle mass. This is why Sloths are only found in tropical warm areas.

Females sloths will make loud vocalizations in order to attract a mate. A male will come to her, and she will usually mate with the first one to show up. After copulation the male leaves, and the female goes through the 5-8 month gestation period alone. They give birth either on the ground or in trees, and the young sloth will cling to its mother's underside for up to 5 months. They wean quickly but stick around for much longer to learn important Sloth skills from mom, including motor skills and which leaves are best to eat.

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IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : South and Central America
Size : Length up to 31in (80cm), Weight up to 14lbs (6.3kg)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Pilosa
Family : Bradypodidae -- Genus : Bradypus -- Species : B. variegatus

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Giant Anteater

Myrmecophaga tridactyla

Giant Anteaters are a relatively new addition to my "Favorite Animals" list. First off, they're huge. Secondly, they have awesome tails. Thirdly, their babies hang on to their tails. And finally, I am a sucker for animals with long faces (which is probably why I own a Collie).

There are four species of Anteater, all of which can be found in the Western Hemisphere. The Giant Anteater is (un-shockingly) the largest of the bunch, and by quite a substantial amount. A full grown adult can weight well over 100lbs, while it's next largest cousin doesn't typically go over 15.

Giant Anteater

They are also really, really long. They have body lengths of around 4ft, and then a 3ft long tail after that. Their tails are also really brush-like, and help them to balance while standing up on their hind legs to feed. Giant Anteaters don't actually walk flat-footed, they curl up their paws into fists and walk on their knuckles. This keeps their long claws nice and sharp for digging.

Giant Anteaters have additional tools that help them find and slurp up prey. They have poor eyesight,a dn rely on smell to locate mounds. Once they find and dig in to a mound, they use their two foot long tongue to probe inside and collect lots and lots of ants and termites in their sticky saliva. They can flick their tongues 160 times per minute! The Anteater then uses its long jaw to detahc the meal, and its powerful stomach to grind up and break down the insects. They can consume up to 30,000 in a single day!

Giant Anteaters are solitary animals, unless they are a female with a child. Young Anteaters stay with thier mothers for as long as two years, and will ride on their backs and tails when they are small. This not only allows the little family to get around quicker, but it keeps the young one safe since its patterning camouflages it into the mother's fur. For some really, really cute pictures, check out Maripi and Pablo's gallery at the National Zoo website.

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IUCN Status : Vulnerable

Location : Central and South America

Size : Body length 4ft (1.2m), Weight up to 140lbs (64kg)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Superorder : Xenarthra
Order : Pilosa -- Family : Myrmecophagidae -- Genus : Myrmecophaga -- Species : M. tridactyla

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Pygmy Sloth

The Pygmy Sloth is both the smallest and the most endangered sloth on the planet. There were only first discovered in 2001, and are found exclusively on the Isla Escudo de Veraguas, a small island off the coast of Panama. Their exact numbers are unknown, but estimates are less than 500 individuals.

Bradypus pygmaeus

Pygmy Sloths are smaller than other Sloths because they spent almost 10,000 years evolving in isolation on a small island. This biological process, called Insular Dwarfism, can also be seen in Florida's Key Deer and in Homo floresiensis from Flores Island, Indonesia. There are of course numerous other examples as well. Lack of space and a smaller supply of resources cause this evolutionary process to happen.

Like the Sloths on the mainland, Pygmy Sloths are arboreal, and feed off of leaves. Interestingly though, the Pygmy Sloths are found feeding near exclusively on Red Mangrove trees, which lives only near the island's coast. The Sloths have not been found in island forests. Their reliance on the Red Mangrove is one of the reasons for their decline; though the island is a marine reserve, indigenous people continue to harvest the plants.

Because Pygmy Sloths are so rare very little is known about their behavior. Detailed information on reproduction and parenting is not available, and scientists are only able to deduce information based on what other, larger Sloth species do. We do know, however, that they are solitary animals that live in a home-range of about 1.6Ha (4 Acres).

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IUCN Status : Critically Endangered

Location : Isla Escudo de Veraguas, Panama

Size : Weight up to 7.7lbs (3.5kg), Length up to 20in (51cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Pilosa
Family : Bradypodidae -- Genus : Bradypus -- Species : B. pygmaeus

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Screaming Hairy Armadillo

Chaetophractus vellerosus

The Screaming Hairy Armadillo gets its name from the long hairs that grow from between the plates, and from the screaming, squealing sound that it makes when threatened.

These interesting looking Armadillos can be found in dry, desert areas of central South America. They are nocturnal and spend the daytime living in deep burrows that keep them cool. Screaming Hairy Armadillos are solitary by nature. Unless it is a female with young offspring, they live in the burrows alone.

Screaming Hairy Armadillos are omnivores, but insects make up most of their diet. They also eat vegetation, and larger creatures like lizards and snakes!

Though they are hunted for their meat and armor, Screaming Hairy Armadillo populations are currently stable.

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IUCN Status : Least Concern

Location : South America

Size : Body Length up to 16in (40cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Cingulata
Family : Dasypodidae -- Genus : Chaetophractus -- Species : C. vellerosus

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Hoffman's Two Toed Sloth

I'm in the mood for something endearing today, though I suppose my concept of "endearing" might be a little off. I love sloths. I think they are adorable and awesome, even if they can't walk on land and have fur covered in algae. Don't believe me? Think sloths are lame? Just watch these videos...




Man, I just love sloths. So today we're going to talk about the Hoffman's Two Toed Sloth, one of two species of Two Toed Sloth. Choloepus hoffmanni can be found in rainforest-type areas in South and Central America, where they are almost completely arboreal.

(Image Source)

And when I say "almost" I mean that they come down from the trees literally once a week in order to urinate and defecate. Their metabolism is so slow that once a week is all they need, and at that time they may lose up to 30% of their body weight! They will also descend when moving to a different tree, but their physiology makes them unable to walk, so instead they have to drag themselves across the ground to get where they are going. They actually have the lowest muscle mass to body weight ratio of any mammal, as well as the lowest variable body temperature (as low as 86 degrees F)! Surprisingly, they are pretty good swimmers.

Hoffman's Two Toed Sloths do just about everything upside down, including giving birth. Their bodies have adapted well to such a life; even their hair parts on the belly rather than the back, allowing rain to run off of them easier. These sloths also have a weird relationship with Algae. Their hair is wonderful for Algae growth, which helps to camouflage the Sloths, and potentially provide them with a meal. Sloths require camouflage to stay safe from potential predators, including Snakes, Eagles, and Cats.

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Pink Fairy Armadillo

Chlamyphorus truncatus  has to have one of the cutest names of any animal. Seriously. Pink. Fairy. Also known as the Pichiciego, it's the smallest of all the armadillos, measuring between 3 and 6 inches long. The Giant Armadillo, in contrast, can measure nearly 40 inches.

Image from Creepy Animals

Pink Fairy Armadillos are native to Argentina and prefer dry grasslands and sandy areas where the habitat is abundant in scrub brush and cacti. They are nocturnal creatures and wonderful little diggers. They live in burrows that often lie close to ant hills, one of their favorite types of prey. Other prey types include worms, snails, and some plant materials.

Pink Fairy Armadillos spend most of their time underground, and will usually only eave their burrows when the ground becomes unbearably moist. They are wonderfully adapted to such a life, with long front claws and torpedo shaped bodies. Tunneling is accomplished by shoveling dirt under the body with the front feet, and then pushing it backwards with the back. When startled out in the open they can bury themselves in a matter of seconds. They are unique among armadillos in that their dorsal shell is barely connected to their body. Pink Fairy Armadillos also possess a rear plate that covers their tail and is used for backside protection when fleeing from enemies.

Unfortunately, the Pink Fairy Armadillos are an endangered species. In their native Argentinian homes the are threatened by habitat destruction and consumption by dogs. They do very poorly in captivity, and no specimen has ever lived beyond four years while in captivity.

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