the Armadillo, in zoology, a genus of quadrupeds belonging to the order of bruta. The dasypus has neither fore-teeth nor dog-teeth; it is covered with a hard boney shell, interfected with distinct moveable zones or belts. This shell covers the head, the neck, the back, the flanks, and extends even to the extremity of the tail; the only parts to which it does not extend, are the throat, the breast, and the belly, which are covered with a whitish skin of a coarse grain, resembling that of a hen after the feathers are pulled off. The shell does not consist of one entire piece, like that of the tortoise, but is divided into separate belts connected to each other by membranes, which enable the animal to move it, and even to roll itself up like a hedge-hog. The number of these belts does not depend on the age of the animal, as some have imagined, but is uniformly the same at all times, and serves to distinguish the different species. All the species of this animal were originally natives of America; they were entirely unknown to the ancients; and modern travellers mention them as peculiar to Mexico, Brazil, and the southern parts of America; though some indeed have confounded them with two species of manis, or shell-lizard, which are found in the East Indies: Others report that they are natives of Africa, because some of them have been transported from Brazil to the coast of Guinea, where a few have since been propagated: but they were never heard of in Europe, Asia, or Africa, till after the discovery of America.—They are all endowed with the faculty of extending and contracting their bodies, and of rolling themselves up like a ball, but not into so compleat a sphere as the hedge-hog. They are very inoffensive animals, excepting when they get into gardens, where they devour the melons, potatoes, and other roots. They walk quickly; but can hardly be said to run or leap; so that they seldom escape the pursuit either of men or dogs. But nature has not left them altogether defenceless. They dig deep holes in the earth; and seldom go very far from their subterranean habitations: Upon any alarm, they immediately go into their holes; but, when at too great a distance, they require but a few moments to make one. The hunters can hardly catch them by the tail before they sink their body in the ground, where they stick so close, that the tail frequently comes away and leaves the body in the earth; which obliges the hunters, when they want to take them alive and immutilated, to dilate the sides of the hole. When they are taken, and find that there is no resource, they instantly roll themselves up, and will not extend their bodies, unless they are held near a fire. When in deep holes, there is no other method of making them come out, but by forcing in smoke or water. They keep in their holes through the day, and seldom go abroad in quest of subsistence but in the night. The hunters usually chase them with small dogs, which easily come up with them. When the dogs are near, the creatures instantly roll themselves up, and in this condition the hunters carry them off. However, if they be near a precipice, they often escape both the dogs and hunters: they roll themselves up, and tumble down like a ball, without breaking their shell or receiving any injury. The dasypus is a very fruitful animal; the female generally brings forth four young ones every month; which is the reason why the species is so numerous, notwithstanding they are so much sought after on account of the sweetness of their flesh. The Indians likewise make baskets, boxes, &c., of the shells which cover their heads.

Linnaeus enumerates six species of dasypus, principally distinguished by the number of their moveable belts.

1. The novemcinctus, or dasypus, with nine moveable belts, (see Plate LXVIII. fig. 1.) The head is long and narrow; the muzzle extends a good way beyond the under lip; the mouth is large; the eyes are small, and placed on the sides of the head; the ears are long, and placed near each other; the tail is long and conical, and terminates in a sharp point. It has five toes on the hind-feet, and only four on the fore-feet; the claws are long, and of a yellowish colour. The length of the body, from the point of the muzzle, to the origin of the tail, is about eleven inches; and the length of the tail, about nine and a half.

2. The unicinctus, or dasypus, with eighteen moveable belts: the other species have two large immovable pieces of shell, one on the shoulders, and another on the buttocks: this species has but one, which is on the shoulders, from that to the tail consisting entirely of moveable belts. The length of the body, from the point of the muzzle, to the origin of the tail, is about nine inches, and the tail about five.

3. The tricinctus, or dasypus, with three moveable belts. The head is oblong, and covered with an entire piece of shell; the ears are short and roundish; it has five toes on all the feet, and the two middle claws of the fore feet are remarkably larger than the rest; the tail is short, being about two inches in length; and the body is about one foot long.

4. The quadricinctus, or dasypus, with four moveable belts: Linnaeus is mistaken with regard to the trivial name and specific character of this animal; it ought to be called the sexcinctus, or dasypus, with six moveable belts; for, according to Brissotius, Bouffon, and most other natural historians, none of the species of this genus have four moveable belts. It has five toes on every foot.

5. The septemcinctus, or dasypus, with seven moveable belts: Here Linnaeus is in another error of the same kind; for this animal has eight moveable belts. It has four toes on the fore-feet, and five on the hind-feet.

6. The dasypus with 12 moveable belts. This is the largest species, being about two feet in length.