Functions of the armadillo skeleton (Euphractus sexcinctus)

Abstract

The Armadillo is a solitary animal. It occupies fields, cerrados and forest edges where excavates tunnels to hide in. Unlike many other species of sloth, this often reuses its toggling, because they have a strong protection of rigid and extremely keratinized carapace connected to the body by a thick and cornea skin. It could be demonstrated in this study that all bone structures and accidents of PNAS are targeted solely to their way of life. The scapula had 18.0 cm longitudinal, 6.0 cm vertical from the caudal angle to the end of the supra spinous fossa and 2.5 cm from the origin of the acromion. The humerus presented a long lateral epicondyle (2.0 cm), the deltoid tuberosity was 1.0 cm, much developed in the kite muscle. The humerus presented 6.0 cm longitudinal. The radio is short, a bone with 4,0 cm longitudinal and 0,5 cm vertical. But the ulna presents a long olecranon, with 2.5 cm longitudinal and 1.0 cm vertical. The carpais, metacarpais and phalanges are very short, not allowing measurements. The femur presents the first, second and third trochanter, being the third well developed. Designed laterally with 2.5 cm lengthwise, it was 19.0 cm long. The patella was 1.8 cm long. The body of the tibia presented 1,0 cm of projection for the sideplane and 14.0 cm² picking area of the body of the fibula. The measurement of the tibia and fibula was 7.0 cm longitudinal, and they are rendered. The seventh or last cervical vertebra with the first thoracic vertebra is a bone floor named transverse process, in which there is a large dorsal foramen forming a triangle with 1.2 cm height (0.96 cm² area). There are ten relatively small thoracic vertebrae with small, thin and inclined neural spines. The holy bone of this animal may be called sinsacro, because its form is similar to birds, presence of long and heavy tail with 26.0 in long and gradual decrease in the size of the vertebrae. Keywords: armadillos, carapace, Euphractus sexcinctus