Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Superorder: Xenarthra
Order: Cingulata
Photo Credit: Vlad LazarenkoOf the twenty species of armadillo that exist throughout the Americas, the nine-banded armadillo is the only one found in the United States. When startled, the nine-banded armadillo can jump straight upward about three to four feet into the air. This reflex may help scare off predators in the wild. Unfortunately, many armadillos are killed when they jump into the underside of moving vehicles.
Armadillos can cross bodies of water in two ways. They can:
1. inflate their stomachs and intestines with air and float across the water, or,
2. sink down and use their sharp claws to walk across the bottom.
They can hold their breath for six minutes or more!
The nine-banded armadillo always gives birth to same gender quadruplets from a single egg. For this reason, it serves science well with its unusual reproductive system. Because they are always genetically identical, the group of four young provides a good subject for scientific, behavioral or medical tests that need consistent biological and genetic makeup in the test subjects.
The Latin name for the nine-banded armadillo is Dasypus novemcinctus. The word Dasypus is derived from the Latin word for rabbit, Novem means nine and cinctus means band. Literally, it translates to "nine-banded rabbit." It is said that armadillos without their shells resemble rabbits.
