Seven-banded armadillo

The seven banded, or long nosed armadillo, Dasypus septemcinctus, is a type of armadillo. It is found in South America and it is solitary, nocturnal, and prefers dry areas over rainforests.



Description
These armadillos have a broadened body, an obtusely pointed snout, long, pointed ears and short legs. The body pattern is made up of two inanimate plates, separated by six or seven movable bands, which are connected to each other by a fold of hairless skin. The body pattern is mostly blackish, hairless and with the scales of the front edge of the movable bands not notably different in colour from the rest of the back. Side shells have dark blackish-pink centres only slightly discernible from the rest of the body patterns, but never as obviously pale as in the nine-banded armadillo. Shells on the movable bands are triangular in shape, but those on the main plates are rounded. The number of shells present on the fourth movable band varies from 44 to 52, with a mean of 48.4.

Reproduction
These armadillos give from 7 to 9 identical offspring.