The pink fairy armadillo, the smallest of its kind, swims through sand
At 90 to 115 millimetres long and about 120 grams, the pink fairy armadillo is the smallest armadillo alive. It lives only in the dry scrub and dunes of central Argentina and can bury itself in seconds, which has earned it the nickname sand-swimmer.
Its shell is soft and flexible, attached to the body only by a thin membrane along the spine, and sits so close to the skin that blood vessels show through. Underneath, silky yellowish-white fur covers the whole body, keeping the animal warm on cold Argentine nights. The shell has 24 bands that let it curl up, and its blunt, flattened rear works like a tamper, packing loose dirt behind it so the tunnel does not cave in.
Nearly everything else serves digging. Oversized claws on the front and hind feet make walking on hard ground clumsy but let it tunnel through compact soil at speed; a torpedo-shaped body cuts drag, and a stiff tail braces it while it works. Its eyes are tiny, it has no visible external ears, and it finds its way by touch, hearing and smell. Underground it eats mostly ants and larvae, falling back on worms, snails and plant roots. The genus name, Chlamyphorus, means cloak-bearing.
It has only one close relative, the greater fairy armadillo; a 2012 genetic study put their split at around 17 million years ago, and their shared lineage broke away from other armadillos roughly 32 million years ago. Richard Harlan first described the species in 1825.
How many remain is unknown. The IUCN moved it from Near Threatened in 2006 to Data Deficient in 2008. Heavy storms force it above ground, where domestic dogs catch it, while farming ploughs up burrows and pesticides taint the ants it eats. It handles stress very badly: most captured animals die in transit or within days, and none has survived more than four years in captivity, yet some still turn up for sale on the black market.
Source: Pink fairy armadillo
