Nagiri image © pink fairy armadillo image © Pat McGrath “The most probable explanation is that the encountered a hard substrate through which they couldn’t dig, emerged to cross the obstacle, and were seen by someone.”Ī comparative analysis of a pink fairy armadillo and a piece of salmon nigiri indicate that they may be the same thing.
So what’s up with the preoccupied armadillo seen in Escudero’s video? Superina has a possible explanation: “The majority of reported sightings we’ve received are from animals that were trying to cross a road or track, or appeared in the middle of a village,” she told Wired. According to a piece published in Wired last year, she’s been researching armadillos in the pink fairy’s habitat for 13 years and "has never once seen one in the wild". Take conservation biologist Mariella Superina of Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council, for example. In fact, these animals spend almost their entire lives underground – they're so rarely seen that we don't even know how many might be out there.īut surely there are dedicated biologists scouring the desert for pichiciegos, we hear you say. The smallest of the armadillo species, the pichiciego (as it is also known) has impressive claws on its front and hind limbs which it uses to burrow through the earth, hunting invertebrates and munching on plant matter. Uploaded last year by YouTuber Willy Escudero, a clip from the video recently popped up in gif form on Reddit, and understandably the internet took a liking to this remarkable little sand-sausage.įilmed in the scrubby grasslands of Mendoza, Argentina, the video shows a pink fairy armadillo doing what pink fairy armadillos do best: digging. Happily, the video uploader claims in the comments that the animal was not taken from its natural habitat. In addition to bugs, armadillos eat small vertebrates, plants, and some fruit, as well as the occassional carrion meal.Note: Poking an armadillo with a stick is a no-no. Strong legs and huge front claws are used for digging, and long, sticky tongues for extracting ants and termites from their tunnels. They have very poor eyesight, and utilize their keen sense of smell to hunt. Most species dig burrows and sleep prolifically, up to 16 hours per day, foraging in the early morning and evening for beetles, ants, termites, and other insects. Because of their low metabolic rate and lack of fat stores, cold is their enemy, and spates of intemperate weather can wipe out whole populations. Habitat and DietĪrmadillos live in temperate and warm habitats, including rain forests, grasslands, and semi-deserts. In fact, only the three-banded armadillo can, curling its head and back feet and contorting its shell into a hard ball that confounds would-be predators. Others have black, red, gray, or yellowish coloring.Ĭontrary to popular belief, not all armadillos are able to encase themselves in their shells. They vary widely in size and color, from the 6-inch-long, salmon-colored pink fairy armadillo to the 5-foot-long, dark-brown giant armadillo. Armadillos are the only living mammals that wear such shells.Ĭlosely related to anteaters and sloths, armadillos generally have a pointy or shovel-shaped snout and small eyes. The familiar nine-banded armadillo is the only species that includes the United States in its range.Īrmadillo is a Spanish word meaning “little armored one” and refers to the bony plates that cover the back, head, legs, and tail of most of these odd looking creatures. Of the 20 varieties of armadillo, all but one live in Latin America.
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