It is hard to guess what a Big hairy armadillo weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Big hairy armadillo (Chaetophractus villosus) on average weights 4.46 kg (9.82 lbs).
The Big hairy armadillo is from the family Dasypodidae (genus: Chaetophractus). It is usually born with about 125 grams (0.28 lbs). They can live for up to 20 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 60 cm (2′ 0″). Usually, Big hairy armadillos have 1 babies per litter.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The big hairy armadillo or large hairy armadillo or “enormous hairy armadillo”(Chaetophractus villosus) is one of the largest and most numerous armadillos in South America. It lives from sea level to altitudes of up to 1,300 meters across the southern portion of South America, and can be found in grasslands, forests, and savannahs, and has even started claiming agricultural areas as its home. It is an accomplished digger and spends most of its time below ground. It makes both temporary and long-term burrows, depending on its food source. The armadillo can use specially evolved membranes in its nose to obtain oxygen from the surrounding soil particles without inhaling any of the soil itself. Armadillos are protected from predators by a series of thin, bony plates along the head and back. They reach sexual maturity at around 9 months and have been known to live over 30 years in captivity. Though this animal is routinely harvested for its meat and its shell, or simply killed for pestering farmers, it has shown amazing resiliency, and populations seem to be handling this exploitation well. Currently, no protective practices are in place for this armadillo, but it does live in many protected areas. This species of armadillo is a preferred research animal due to its adaptability to laboratory settings, and relative hardiness in situations of stress.
Animals of the same family as a Big hairy armadillo
We found other animals of the Dasypodidae family:
- Pink fairy armadillo with a weight of 86 grams
- Southern naked-tailed armadillo bringing 4.06 kilos (8.95 lbs) to the scale
- Chacoan naked-tailed armadillo bringing 1.49 kilos (3.28 lbs) to the scale
- Nine-banded armadillo bringing 3.98 kilos (8.77 lbs) to the scale
- Greater naked-tailed armadillo bringing 5.35 kilos (11.79 lbs) to the scale
- Seven-banded armadillo bringing 1.53 kilos (3.37 lbs) to the scale
- Hairy long-nosed armadillo bringing 4.44 kilos (9.79 lbs) to the scale
- Screaming hairy armadillo with a weight of 930 grams
- Northern naked-tailed armadillo bringing 3.74 kilos (8.25 lbs) to the scale
- Pichi bringing 1.49 kilos (3.28 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a Big hairy armadillo
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Chaetophractus villosus:
- Godman’s rock-wallaby with a weight of 4.75 kilos (10.47 lbs)
- Sun-tailed monkey with a weight of 5.26 kilos (11.6 lbs)
- Greater mouse-deer with a weight of 5.25 kilos (11.57 lbs)
- Pagai Island macaque with a weight of 4.53 kilos (9.99 lbs)
- L’Hoest’s monkey with a weight of 5.31 kilos (11.71 lbs)
- Bridled nail-tail wallaby with a weight of 4.95 kilos (10.91 lbs)
- Plains viscacha with a weight of 4.66 kilos (10.27 lbs)
- Grivet with a weight of 3.86 kilos (8.51 lbs)
- Southern tamandua with a weight of 4.73 kilos (10.43 lbs)
- Gray fox with a weight of 3.83 kilos (8.44 lbs)
Animals with the same litter size as a Big hairy armadillo
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a Big hairy armadillo:
- Black rhinoceros
- Nabarlek
- Rio Beni titi
- PudĂș
- Crescent nail-tail wallaby
- Bougainville monkey-faced bat
- Giant panda
- New Zealand sea lion
- Moose
- Angolan talapoin
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Big hairy armadillo
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Big hairy armadillo:
- Blackbuck with an average maximal age of 20.25 years
- East African oryx with an average maximal age of 20 years
- Aardvark with an average maximal age of 24 years
- Lowland paca with an average maximal age of 16 years
- Guatemalan black howler with an average maximal age of 20 years
- Egyptian mongoose with an average maximal age of 20 years
- Black-crested Sumatran langur with an average maximal age of 16 years
- Nile lechwe with an average maximal age of 18.67 years
- Pallas’s squirrel with an average maximal age of 16.08 years
- Dhole with an average maximal age of 16 years