“I’m the holiday armadillo!” - Ross Geller ⁣ ⁣ The nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) is the only one of the twenty species of armadillos whose range includes North America. #Armadillos are related to sloths and anteaters and also to gylptodonts, which were large armored mammals that went extinct at the end of the last ice age in the Americas.⁣ ⁣ Spanish for "little armored one," armadillos are the only mammal with a bony plate, which is covered by brown, leathery skin. Although named "nine-banded,” they can have between seven and eleven bands. ⁣ ⁣ The nine-banded #armadillo has an interesting defense mechanism. Most people think that armadillos curl into a ball, but the nine-banded armadillo cannot do this. (Think three-banded armadillo.) Instead, when frightened, it may jump about three feet in the air. It is unable to control the direction of the movement which helps scare off predators. Wild!⁣ ⁣ Image: A nine-banded armadillo seen at Cumberland Island National Seashore, #...