ARMADILLO  , the

Spanish designation for the small mail-clad Central and South American mammals of the order Edentata, constituting the family Dasypodidae . The armature consists,of a bony case, partly composed of solid buckler-like plates, and partly of movable transverse bands, the latter differing in number with the species, and giving to the body a considerable degree of flexibility . The bony plates are overlain by horny scales . Armadillos are omnivorous, feeding on roots, insects, worms, reptiles and carrion, and are mostly, though not universally, Peba Armadillo (Tatusia novemcincta) . nocturnal . They are harmless and inoffensive creatures, offering no resistance when caught; their principal means of escape being the extraordinary rapidity with which they burrow in the ground, and the tenacity with which they retain their hold in their subterranean retreats . Notwithstanding the shortness of their limbs they run with rapidity . Most of the species are esteemed good eating by the natives of the countries in which they live . They are all inhabitants of the open plains or the forests of the tropical and temperate parts of South America, with the exception of a few species which range as far north as Texas . The largest species is the giant armadillo (Priodon gigas), measuring nearly a yard long, from the forests of Surinam and Brazil; while one of the smallest is Dasypus minutus, a near ally of the larger D. sexcinctus . The peba (Tatusia novemcincta) represents a group with a large number of movable bands in the armour; while the apar (Tolypeutes tricinctus) and the other members of the same genus are remarkable for their power of rolling themselves up into balls . For the distinctive characters of these and the other genera see EDENTATA .