Pink Fairy Armadillo

A grainy image of the fabled creature, digging its way into the earth.

Pink fairy armadillo! And we thought that fairies only live in the heads of over active imaginators or abuser of drugs. Not with this one, the fairy armadillo has a really strange feature. It's pink in color.....duh, and is lightly furred. The pink fairy armadillo is also the smallest of its species.

The signature trademark of a pink fairy armadillo is the beautiful pink carapace protecting its body. Unlike most armadillos that utilize their carapace for protection, the pink fairy armadillo carapace is soft and thin. The pink color of its shell is due to the fact that blood vessels adorn the insides of the transparent carapace. Not to freak anyone out, but the pink color of the shell is actually blood. That pink shell is connected to the membrane that runs along its spinal cord.

The pink colored shell is the trademark of the fairy armadillo.

Experts have rationalized that the pink fairy armadillo shell is used for thermoregulation. Every desert dwellers require a certain biological system in place to regulate their temperature in the desert wasteland, and the pink fairy armadillo is no exception. According to observation, the pink fairy armadillo changes color quickly when the temperature changes. Experts believe that the pink fairy armadillo regulates its temperature by controlling the amount of exposure its blood will have at the surface of the shell.

By pumping more blood into the shell, it increases its surface area and encourages heat to escape. When temperature of the surrounding drops, the pink fairy armadillo will reduce blood flow to the carapace, thus reducing surface area and retain precious heat. This enigmatic creature lives in the desert of Argentina, and it is common knowledge that the desert gets really cold during the night.

The pink fairy armadillo is rarely seen above ground, spending most of its time under the soil, digging and dining on ants, earthworms and plant roots. It surfaces during the night or when it is raining to avoid drowning. During this time, the pink fairy armadillo is very susceptible to predation.

It's no longer an armadillo's world out there.

Housing development is theorized as the main reason towards the dwindling of the fairy armadillo numbers. House cats and dogs prey on this creature while pesticides from farming activities seep into the ground, contaminating ants and termites that make up the bulk of the armadillo's diet.

Since fairy armadillos are so rarely seen, experts are unable to accurately quantify this mysterious beast. Thus, they are unable to safely classify if the pink fairy armadillo is truly endangered. But sightings of pink fairy armadillos have drastically dropped, and most experts believe that this fascinating creatures are on the verge of extinction.

Another signature of the pink fairy armadillo is its flat blunt butt. This feature facilitates the armadillos ability to dig tunnels without it collapsing as well as create pockets for it to breathe. Its club tail is used as a balancing tool when the armadillo digs into the ground. A special feature inherent in the pink fairy armadillo is its sensitivity to temperature and the change of environment.

Pink fairy armadillos make terrible pets as they die quickly out of stress. A simple relocation attempt could be fatal to the pink fairy as many did not survive above eight hours. With claws that are disproportionately massive, the pink fairy armadillo is naturally clumsy on ground. The same could not be said when the armadillo is digging into the soil. It is nicknamed the sand swimmer, considering how effortless the armadillo could dig into the ground.

Do you find this creature interesting? Share this article with your friends and family, and watch the pink fairy armadillo dig his way into your hearts.