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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