Horned Dillodile

Created by Lediblock2

Horned dillodiles (Ceratosuchoarmadillo ferox) are the most basal of the dillodile family, as well as among the most aggressive. They’re fairly short and squat, about 9 feet long, with the heaviest armor out of all the members of the dillodile family, a relatively short, thick tail, and short, stocky limbs that still more resemble webbed hands and feet than flippers. True to their name, these xenarthrans also sport a pair of large horns growing above their eyes, derived from the armor plate that covered the skull of earlier relatives; their jaws are also considerably more robust than those of other dillodiles, with flat grinding molars in addition to sharp tearing teeth. As their dentition suggests, horned dillodiles are considerably more omnivorous in their habits than their relatives are, supplementing their diet of fish and midsized animals with crustaceans and molluscs, as well as fruit and nuts that occasionally fall into the rivers where they live. They’re also considerably more terrestrial – it’s not uncommon to see a horned dillodile lying along the banks of rivers in what was once Venezuela, northwestern Brazil, and eastern Colombia.