The Armadillo

Armadillos New World placental mammals, accepted for accepting a coriaceous armor shell. Dasypodidae is the alone actual ancestors in the adjustment Cingulata, allotment of the superorder Xenarthra forth with the anteaters and sloths. The chat armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one". The Aztec alleged them azotochtli, Nahuatl for “turtle-rabbit.”

There are about ten actual genera and about 20 actual breed of armadillo, some of which are acclaimed by the cardinal of bands on their armor. Their boilerplate breadth is about 75 centimetres (30 in), including tail; the Giant Armadillo grows up to 150 centimetres (59 in) and weighs up to 59 kilograms (130 lb), while the Pink Fairy Armadillos are diminutive breed with an all-embracing breadth of 12 to 15 centimetres (5 to 6 in). All breed are built-in to the Americas, area they abide a array of environments.

In the United States, the sole citizen armadillo is the Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), which is best accepted in the axial southernmost states, decidedly Texas. Their ambit is as far east as South Carolina and Florida and as far arctic as Nebraska; they accept been consistently accretion their ambit over the aftermost aeon due to a abridgement of accustomed predators and accept been begin as far arctic as southern Illinois and Indiana.

Armadillos are abounding diggers with aciculate claws. Abounding breed use their aciculate claws to dig for food, such as grubs, and to dig dens. The Nine-banded Armadillo prefers to anatomy burrows in clammy clay abreast the creeks, streams, and arroyos about which it lives and feeds. The diet of altered armadillo breed varies, but consists mainly of insects, grubs, and added invertebrates. Some species, however, augment about absolutely on all-overs and termites.

In accepted with added xenarthrans, armadillos in accepted accept low anatomy temperatures (33–36 °C) and basal metabolic ante (from 40–60% of that accepted in a placental mammal of their mass). This is decidedly accurate of types that specialize on application termites as their primary aliment antecedent (for example, Priodontes and Tolypeutes).

The armor is formed by plates of dermal cartilage covered in almost small, overlapping epidermal scales alleged "scutes", composed of cartilage with a accoutrement of horn. In best species, there are adamant bouncer over the amateur and hips, with a cardinal of bands afar by adjustable bark accoutrement the aback and flanks. Additional armor covers the top of the head, the high genitalia of the limbs, and the tail. The base of the beastly is never armored, and is artlessly covered with bendable bark and fur.

This armor-like bark appears to be the capital aegis of abounding armadillos, although best escape predators by beat (often into barbed patches, from which their armor protects them) or digging to safety. Alone the South American three-banded armadillos (Tolypeutes) await heavily on their armor for protection. Back threatened by a predator, Tolypeutes breed frequently cycle up into a ball. Added armadillo breed cannot cycle up because they accept too abounding plates. The Arctic American Nine-banded Armadillo tends to jump beeline in the air back surprised, and appropriately generally collides with the basic or fenders of casual vehicles.

Armadillos accept abbreviate legs but can move absolutely quickly, and accept the adeptness to abide underwater for as continued as six minutes. Because of the body of its armor, an armadillo will bore in baptize unless it inflates its abdomen and belly with air, which generally doubles its admeasurement and allows it to bathe beyond attenuated bodies of water.

The Orangutan

Orang utans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping nests each night from branches and foliage. Their hair is typically reddish-brown, instead of the brown or black hair typical of other great apes.

Native to Indonesia and Malaysia, orangutans are currently found only in rainforests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, though fossils have been found in Java, the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Vietnam and Mainland China. There are only two surviving species, both of which are endangered: the Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) and the critically endangered Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abelii). The subfamily Ponginae also includes the extinct genera Gigantopithecus and Sivapithecus. The word "orangutan" comes from the Malay words "orang" (man) and "(h)utan" (forest); hence, "man of the forest".

The populations on the two islands were classified as subspecies until recently, when they were elevated to full specific level, and the three distinct populations on Borneo were elevated to subspecies. The population currently listed as P. p. wurmbii may be closer to the Sumatran Orangutan than the Bornean Orangutan. If confirmed, abelii would be a subspecies of P. wurmbii (Tiedeman, 1808). Regardless, the type locality of pygmaeus has not been established beyond doubts, and may be from the population currently listed as wurmbii (in which case wurmbii would be a junior synonym of pygmaeus, while one of the names currently considered a junior synonym of pygmaeus would take precedence for the northwest Bornean taxon). To further confuse, the name morio, as well as various junior synonyms that have been suggested, have been considered likely to all be junior synonyms of the population listed as pygmaeus in the above, thus leaving the east Bornean populations unnamed.

Orangutans live in primary and old secondary forests, particularly dipterocarp forests and peat swamp forests. Both species can be found in both mountainous and lowland swampy areas. Sumatran orangutans live in elevations as high as 1500 m (4921 ft), while Bornean orangutans live no higher than 1000 m (3281 ft). The latter will sometimes enter grasslands, cultivated fields, gardens, young secondary forest, and shallow lakes. Orangutans are the most arboreal of the great apes, spending nearly all of their time in the trees. Most of the day is spent feeding, resting, and moving between feeding and resting sites. They start the day feeding for 2–3 hours in the morning. They rest during midday followed by traveling in the late afternoon. When evening arrives, they begin to prepare their nest for the night. Tigers are the major predatory threat to orangutans in Sumatra. Orangutans may also be preyed on by clouded leopards and crocodiles. The former can kill adolescents and small adult females but have not been recorded killing adult males. In Borneo, orangutans are not threatened by tigers and seem to descend to the ground more often than their Sumatran relatives. Orangutans do not swim. At least one population at a conservation refuge on Kaja island in Borneo have been photographed wading in deep water.
Fruit makes up 65–90 percent of the orangutan diet. Fruits with sugary or fatty pulp are favored. Ficus fruits are commonly eaten, because they are easy to harvest and digest. Lowland dipterocarp forests are preferred by orangutans because of their plentiful fruit. Bornean orangutans consume at least 317 different food items that include young leaves, shoots, bark, insects, honey and bird eggs.

Orangutans are opportunistic foragers, and their diets vary markedly from month to month. Bark is eaten as a last resort in times of food scarcity; fruits are always more popular.