Armadillos are an odd and funny looking species in the animal kingdom. Much like a tortoise they have a carapace that appears to be belted, a long snout like an anteater, large alert ears like an antelope and a long tail like a rat. Nevertheless, the armadillo looks somehow cute and if you want to see one of these animals in the wild, Costa Rica is the right place for you.
The armadillo, a species of primordial mammalian order, is more than 50 million years old. The nine-banded armadillo is the most common in Costa Rica and Central America. The distribution area extends from the south of the USA to Argentina. It is the only so called “Xenarthra” (a major clade of placental mammals native to the Americas) in Central America along with the Cabassous. The armadillo has a protective shell about 50 cm in size. This is divided into 7-10 belts and weighs around 7-11 pounds.
Armadillos are mainly found in dry habitats such as savannas, grasslands or semi-deserts. There they live in self-dug burrows that can be up to 7 meters long. Other armadillos or even other animal species such as skunks or opossums live in the burrows too. Armadillos rarely leave their protective shelter during the day, only at night do they come to the surface. They mostly feed on insects such as ants or beetles. Their prey also includes smaller vertebrates, bird eggs or even the decaying flesh of dead animals.. Since fruits and berries are also part of their diet armadillos are considered omnivores.
Along with some of the larger big cats, armadillos are also hunted by humans, partly for their tasty meat, but also for their often destructiveness among farmers’ fields. Due to the leprosy bacterium that armadillos carry they are unfortunately also used for medical testing purposes.
Armadillos can also be seen throughout Costa Rica both in the lowlands and in the mountains. Above 2,000 meters it is difficult to find an armadillo. They are nocturnal so you can observe them very well during night walks.
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