Armadillos of the Calidocene

Armadillos diversify a lot during the Calidocene due to the rise in temperature and lots of new niches to fill.

The Armagrande

Armagrandes (armisbos, armor cow) are fairly large herbivorous tanks similar to glyptodonts. These giant descendants of the 9 banded armadillo are found throughout the grasslands of Antarctica

Biology

Armagrandes grow to about 8 feet in length and 5 feet to the top of the shell with a tail reaching to about 6 feet long. They have rigid spines and necks to hold their thick, heavy shell, but have way more bands in order to make up for the loss of flexibility. In order to support their weight of 800 pounds, they have flattened out feet similar to elephants but aren't as good at digging as their ancestors were.

Armagrandes are very slow, but they have a secret weapon. Much like the glyptodonts of the past, the end of the tail has a spiked club, perfect for defending against predators or rivals.

Their diets are mostly herbivorous, feeding on grasses and other vegetation that grows close to the ground. Their molars are flat and are keep getting replaced throughout their lives, unlike other mammals. Their snouts have flattened out. In order to get around having a rigid neck, they have a very small trunk for bringing food to their mouths.

Armagrandes aren't the best at thermoregulation, but the calidocene climate keeps them warm during both the winter and the summer, where air currents and extremely small hairs  keep them warm in the polar night.

Behavior

Armagrandes are solitary but will share the same grazing grounds with others. When a dispute occurs, 2 armagrandes will smack each other with their clubs. They also use their clubs for a different purpose. Some Armagrandes in more forested areas use their clubs for knocking down trees to reach the leaves.

Armagrandes meet up in the Summer to mate, which is nearly exactly how armadillos now would. The pregnant female can delay her pregnancy for 2 months and the normal gestational period is 6 months. The female will give birth to quintuplets, which have very soft shells and are extremely small in comparison to their mother. Their size makes them easy prey, but the mother will protect them with her life, it doesn't stop the high infant mortality rate though.

Despite their weight, Armagrandes are suprisingly good swimmers and due to the buoyancy granted from gas in their stomachs from eating grass. They swim to islands and across rivers to find more food on a regular basis.

Riverrunners

Riverrunners (genus ancorisungula, anchor claw) are small, semiaquatic armadillo descendants that are found in the marshes of the great plains areas of the US

Biology

Riverruners measure at about 2 feet in length and 5 inches to the top of the shell. The average lifespan for a riverrunner is 10 years.

Riverrunners are semiaquatic and spend most their day in the water, only coming out after its done feeding. They feed mostly on water ants but sometimes eat benthic invertebrates and on rare occasions, fish.

Riverunners have a shell that only covers about 75% of their side so that the legs have enough room to move around underwater. The wide open sides are covered with small scutes in order to give some sort of  protection. However, this doesn't stop them from being preyed upon by crocodilians.

Riverrunners have a numerous amount of aquatic adaptations. They have closable interal ears, an ability to last 7 minutes underwater, nasal valves, and a torpedo shaped body. They still have their claws for tearing open water ant hives, but also use them to anchor themselves to the bottom to launch themselves forward. When they launch forward along the river bottom, they use a vertically flattened tail fluke to give them an extra boost. 

Their skull contains a pocket for a long sticky tongue to hide itself, much like a woodpecker. Their mouth is covered with large, cone-shaped papillae to spit out water while still keeping hold of their larger prey.

Behavior

Riverrunners are mostly solitary animals and act, mate, and raise their young exactly how their ancestors did.

Riverrunners hunt by sitting under a water ant nest ant slurping up most of the aquatic ants. It then comes to the surface to claw a hole in the top of the nest and slurp up most of the terrestial ants.