Armadillo Lizard

Diet

• What?

Small invertebrates, most commonly termites, occasionally plants

• How Often?

Adults eat three times a week

• How?

They hunt through sit and wait tactics

• Any Special Food?

No, nothing special

Social Structure

• Armadillo Lizards live in groups of up to 60

  • Males protect the territory

  • Females take care of young

• Male - led groups

• Groups made up of individuals of all ages, both male and female.

• Communicate through tail waving, head bobbing, and tongue flicking

Reproduction

• Armadillo Lizards mate once a year

• They are polygynandrous

  • Both genders have multiple mates in the mating season

• They do not have mating rituals

• They produce 1-2 offspring each time

Development

• Gestation lasts 6 - 8 months

• Ovoviviparous

  • Eggs hatch inside mother

• Reach sexual maturity at 3 - 4 years old

• Armadillo Lizards stay in family groups for life

• No difference in male and female development

Causes of death

• Predation

  • Its primary predator is birds of prey

    • Most animals will not attack it because of its tough scales

• No sexual competition deaths

• No prominent diseases

• Main cause of death is predation

Impact of Humans

• Main human impact is catching them for pets.

  • This hurt their population until it was banned 

    • This is because capturing many individuals from a group left the rest of the group vulnerable

• Global warming could be a threat to them, as it might affect their habitat.

• Humans have been interacting with them since they were discovered in 1828, though much more frequently in recent decades

• The biggest effort made to reduce our impact on the species was the ban on the trade of armadillo lizards.