The nine-banded armadillo is the only armadillo species found in the United States and is currently expanding its range northward due to warming climates. Unlike popular belief, most armadillos cannot roll into a perfect ball — only the three-banded armadillo can. The nine-banded armadillo is medically significant as the only wild animal other than humans known to naturally harbour the bacterium that causes leprosy. Females always give birth to identical quadruplets derived from a single fertilised egg.
About the Armadillo
Dasypus novemcinctus
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💡 Fun Facts
01
Nine-banded armadillos always give birth to exactly four genetically identical quadruplets — the only mammal that does this routinely.
02
They are one of the few wild animals that can contract and transmit Mycobacterium leprae, the bacterium that causes Hansen's disease (leprosy).
03
Armadillos can hold their breath for up to six minutes and will swallow air to increase buoyancy before swimming across rivers.
04
Their sense of smell is so acute they can detect insects and larvae buried up to 20 cm underground.
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When startled, armadillos jump straight upward about 1 metre into the air — a reflex that helps startle predators but unfortunately causes many road deaths.
📍 Where to Find This Animal
Habitat Types:
Grasslands
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