Pink fairy armadillos have small eyes, silky yellowish white fur, and a flexible dorsal shell that is solely attached to its body by a thin dorsal membrane. In addition, its spatula-shaped tail protrudes from a vertical plate at the blunt rear of its shell. This creature exhibits nocturnal and solitary habits and has a diet that is mainly composed of insects, worms, snails, and various plant parts. Unfortunately, the conservation status for pink fairy armadillo is still uncertain, and it is listed as Data Deficient by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The decline in population for this species has generally been attributed to farming activities and predators including domestic dogs and cats. Pink fairy armadillos are found less commonly than they were a few decades ago, and the field sightings have been rare and incidental. Individuals that have been caught in the wild had a tendency to die during or a couple days after they were transported from their natural habitat to captive facilities. There is a sole record for the longevity of a pink fairy armadillo that was held in captivity more than 4 years; however, that particular case lacks proper scientific description and thus cannot be considered fully valid. Armadillos’ evolutionary distinctiveness, combined with their restricted geographic range, ongoing threats, and rarity makes the urgent conservation attention extremely important for these species. This fine hair has been found to be beneficial for thermoregulation in an environment with highly variable temperatures. Night temperatures in Argentinian plains can get very low, and since the armadillo is nocturnal it needs the fur to conserve heat while it is being active outside its burrow. Armadillos are well known for leathery shells covering the majority of its dorsal side. The pink fairy armadillo has this characteristic as well, but its shell is much softer and more flexible. Though the shell is close enough to the body for these blood vessels to be seen through the armor, this protective part of the animal is only attached via a thin membrane along the spinal column of the animal.Read more at GreenArea.me: Threatened to be extinct, the pink fairy armadillos http://greenarea.me/?p=101268
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