Nine-banded Armadillo

• It always gives birth to four genetically identical young of the same sex, developed from a single fertilised egg.
• It eats insects, grubs, small invertebrates and occasionally plant matter.
• It lives in forest, grassland and semi-desert across the Americas, from the southern United States to Uruguay.
• reproducciónIt almost always gives birth to genetically identical quadruplets from a single fertilised egg, a case of polyembryony very rare among mammals.
• fisiologíaIt can be a natural carrier of the bacterium that causes leprosy, one of the few non-human animals known to harbour and pass on the disease.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton with a dermal carapace of bony plates (mammal)

Habitat and environment

Forest, grassland and semi-desert across the Americas, from the southern United States to Uruguay and northern Argentina

Birth weight

~66 grams at birth

Size at birth

Born with a soft leathery shell that hardens over time

Sexual maturity

1 year

Gestation / incubation

133-150 days (delayed implantation can stretch the process by up to 4 months more)

Litter / clutch size

4 identical young per litter (genetically identical quadruplets, unique among mammals)

Life expectancy in captivity

Documented record of up to 22-23 years in captivity

Sources consulted: AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); Animal Diversity Web (D. septemcinctus); Armadillo-Online; Animalia.bio; AnimalHub; Animal Diversity Web (D. novemcinctus); National Wildlife Federation; UF/IFAS Extension

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.