Sunday, April 22, 2007

Adopt-a-Species: week 13

As you have requested, I have provided a complete report on the fiscal opportunity associated with the selective breeding of the Giant Armadillo.

Classification

Kingdom: Animala
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammala
Order: Cingulata
Family: Dasypodidae
Genus: Priodontes
Species: Priodontes maximus


The Giant Armadillo has three adaptations that I think we made be interested in examining:


  • Its legs and tail are covered in tough pentagon-shaped scales: these scales protect the armadillo's under skin and may prove to be a tough material; these armadillos rely on the scales because they can't fully hide in their carapace

  • Digestion of termites: Giant Armadillos have a diet that consists almost entirely of termites. The armadillo's digestion system must be well adapted for handling large amounts of termites, and could possibly help in developing a termite extermination too.

  • Possession of large third claw: The Giant Armadillo has a large third claw which it uses to dig for termites. This claw resembles a spade, and allow the armadillo to dig efficiently and fast.


It is my opinion that we focus our attention towards the armadillo's scales. These scales appear to be extremely tough, as they must be in order to protect the Giant armadillo since it is one of the few species that cannot hide itself completely in its carapace. It is possible that through selective breeding, we may be able to harvest scales that are much stronger than the scales of the armadillo as it is. These scales could serve many purposes if bred strong enough. I personally think they would make a perfect addition to any home as an alternative to roof shingles.


The selective breeding of the Giant Armadillo could prove extremely troublesome. You see, the scientific community knows little to nothing concerning the breeding habits of this creature. There have been no studies conducted or research documented. In our best case scenario, we would be able to isolate pairs of armadillos that we considered to posess the thickest and toughest scales. We would then breed these armadillos together, in hopes of producing fertile offspring. Once the offspring reached sexual maturity, the thickness and toughness of the scales would be measured. These offspring would then mate with other like offspring, in turn hopefully passing on the trait of think and tough scales. This may become problematic though, as the Giant Armadillo is monogamous when it comes to procreation. It seems that the Giant Armadillo will not simply mate with any member of the opposite sex, as their monogamous mating habits make them very picky when it comes to choosing a mate. This could result in the offspring of selectively bred armadillos not taking to each other. It should be extremely hard to not only breed the desired adaptation, but also breed offspring that will necessarily take to one another.


In this process we also risk the possibility of creating a new species of Armadillo. Since we know virtually nothing about the mating and courting habits of the armadillo, there is a fair chance that altering its anatomy in any way may have unforeseen side affects. This may result in the armadillos with the new adaptation not being able to mate with the other armadillos. Known as reproductive isolation, it occurs when organisms no longer are able to reproduce. This becomes even more of a problem when we refer back to the selective mating habits of the species. The new armadillos could be rejected by the current species; when this happens, the new armadillos become a species of their own since they are only able to mate with each other.


In conclusion, I do not believe we should proceed with the research considering the selective breeding of the giant armadillo. There is already an extremely low number of Giant Armadillos, and the possibility of harming their reproductive processes does not equal a good result for the population. Also, if we were to extract the scales from the Armadillos, we would have to kill them first. This seems completely counter-productive, and any further discussion of this endeavor should be immediately disposed of.

Reference:

Joshua Nixon. September 14, 2006. Genus Priodontes. http://www.msu.edu/~nixonjos/armadillo/priodontes.html. Dowloaded on March 29, 2007.