Three-banded Armadillo Skull Replica

Description

Three-banded armadillo skull replica measures 2.5 x 1.3 x 1.2 inches. The Tolypeutes matacus skull is museum-quality polyurethane resin cast from California Academy of Sciences specimen. 2-part skull (separate cranium and mandible). 1:1 scale. Made in USA.

The three-banded armadillo uses its signature shell bands to snap shut, locking its head and tail together to hide its eyes and belly from predators. This armor features a tough outer layer of keratin, the exact same protein in human fingernails. These animals stay small, usually weighing under 3.5 pounds with yellow or brown shells.

This three-banded armadillo has a long, sticky, straw-like pink tongue that allows it to gather up and eat many different species of insects, typically ants and termites.

Scientific Classification

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Cingulata
• Family: Chlamyphoridae
• Genus: Tolypeutes
• Species: T. matacus
• Binomial name: Tolypeutes matacus
• Conservation status: Near Threatened

This museum-quality three-banded armadillo skull replica has a blunt, compact frame that allows the head to retract fully into the shell. In contrast, the hairy juvenile armadillo skull replica features a much longer, narrow snout for rooting in soil.

This same short defensive skull structure appears in the Leisey’s armadillo skeleton replica, linking the modern species to its prehistoric ancestors. While these skulls provide protection the pink fairy armadillo skull replica is significantly smaller and shaped for moving through loose sand.