The armadillo is a distinctive mammal known for its armored appearance. While found across the southern United States, they are particularly prevalent in Texas. This article explores the specific armadillo species found in Texas, detailing its characteristics and way of life.
The Nine-banded Armadillo
The Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) is the most commonly found armadillo species in Texas. It is the sole armadillo species found in North America, with others primarily restricted to South and Central America. Its ancestors originated in South America, migrating north through the Isthmus of Panama.
The Nine-banded Armadillo began expanding into Texas from Mexico in the 19th century, crossing the Rio Grande. By the mid-1850s, its range was limited to the Lower Rio Grande Valley, but it rapidly extended across South Texas by 1880. It continued its northward and eastward movement, spreading throughout most of Texas and into neighboring states like Louisiana and Oklahoma by the 1920s and 1930s. Its adaptability allowed it to become widespread.
Distinctive Features and Adaptations
The Nine-banded Armadillo’s armored shell is its most recognizable feature. This armor consists of bony plates covered by keratinized epidermal scales, similar to fingernails, covering its back, sides, head, tail, and legs. Despite its name, the number of flexible bands on its midsection can vary from seven to eleven, though nine is typical. This armor protects from predators, but unlike some armadillo species, the Nine-banded Armadillo cannot fully roll into a ball for defense.
These armadillos are roughly the size of a large cat, with a head and body length of 15 to 23 inches and a tail adding another 10 to 21 inches. Adults typically weigh between 5.5 to 14.3 pounds. Their short legs feature strong claws, with four toes on the front feet and five on the hind feet, specifically adapted for digging.
With poor eyesight, armadillos compensate with a highly developed sense of smell and good hearing. They use their acute sense of smell to locate food buried up to 8 inches deep. Physiological adaptations include a relatively low body temperature and the ability to hold their breath for up to six minutes. This aids foraging by allowing them to submerge their snout in soil or cross shallow water by walking on the riverbed.
Habitat, Diet, and Behavior in Texas
In Texas, the Nine-banded Armadillo inhabits various environments, including woodlands, brush, scrublands, and grasslands. They are often found near water sources like streams and riparian areas, where moist, softer soil facilitates digging for food. While they tolerate some cold, their lack of significant hair or body fat makes them susceptible to prolonged freezing weather, limiting their northern distribution.
The armadillo is an omnivore, with its diet predominantly consisting of animal matter. They primarily consume insects and other invertebrates, such as beetles, grubs, ants, termites, and earthworms, which they detect with their sensitive noses. They forage by thrusting their snouts into loose soil and using their long, sticky tongues to capture prey. Occasionally, their diet may include small reptiles, amphibians, bird eggs, and a small amount of non-animal matter like fruits, fungi, or seeds.
Nine-banded Armadillos are solitary creatures, active mostly during dusk and dawn (nocturnal or crepuscular). Their activity patterns can shift; during colder periods, they may forage during the warmest part of the day. They are prolific diggers, constructing multiple burrows within their territory up to 25 feet long and 7 feet deep, which serve as resting places, shelter from predators, and sites for raising young. Reproductive behavior involves mating in late summer and autumn, with females giving birth to four identical quadruplets in the spring, a unique reproductive trait among mammals. The young remain in the burrow for about three months before becoming independent.