• 24 parts
  • Checked October 2026

Armadillo Skeleton Labeled

An armadillo's shell in its sections, then the skeleton under it, labeled.

Armadillo Skeleton Labeled

Name Date

Tap any part to read, rename or leave it out

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Head shield
  2. Shoulder shield
  3. Bands
  4. Pelvic shield
  5. Tail rings
  6. Osteoderms
  7. Skull
  8. Mandible
  9. Teeth
  10. Cervical vertebrae
  11. Scapula
  12. Thoracic vertebrae
  13. Ribs
  14. Lumbar vertebrae
  15. Sacrum
  16. Pelvis
  17. Caudal vertebrae
  18. Clavicle
  19. Humerus
  20. Radius
  21. Ulna
  22. Ungual phalanges (claw bones)
  23. Femur
  24. Tibia and fibula

Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: the skeleton of a dog

All 24 parts on the diagram

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The shell 6

  1. Head shield A plate of armor on top of the head. The ears have none.
  2. Shoulder shield The rigid front part of the shell, over the shoulders.
  3. Bands Movable bands across the middle of the back. Soft skin between them lets the shell bend.
  4. Pelvic shield The rigid rear part of the shell, over the hips.
  5. Tail rings Rings of bony plates that cover the tail from base to tip.
  6. Osteoderms Small bones that form in the skin, each under a horny scale. Together they make the shell.

The skeleton 18

  1. Skull A low skull that tapers to a long, narrow snout.
  2. Mandible The lower jaw. It carries the lower row of peg teeth.
  3. Teeth Small pegs with no enamel, all alike. There are none at the front of the jaws.
  4. Cervical vertebrae The neck vertebrae. Several are joined into one block; the first stays free.
  5. Scapula A shoulder blade with a long, curved process called the acromion.
  6. Thoracic vertebrae The chest vertebrae, each with a pair of ribs.
  7. Ribs Broad, flat ribs. The first pair is the broadest of all.
  8. Lumbar vertebrae Loin vertebrae with tall processes that hold up the shell. Extra joints lock each one to the next.
  9. Sacrum A long row of joined vertebrae. The hip bone is fixed to it in front and behind.
  10. Pelvis A hip bone joined to the backbone at two places. Its ilium meets the sacrum in front, its ischium behind.
  11. Caudal vertebrae The tail vertebrae, getting smaller toward the tip.
  12. Clavicle A strong collarbone, well developed in every armadillo.
  13. Humerus A short, stout upper arm bone with big ridges for digging muscles.
  14. Radius One of the two forearm bones. It stays separate from the ulna.
  15. Ulna The forearm bone with a long, strong elbow end, the olecranon.
  16. Ungual phalanges (claw bones) The last bone of each toe, large and strong. It carries a digging claw.
  17. Femur A short, broad thigh bone. A third trochanter sticks out from its side.
  18. Tibia and fibula The two bones of the lower leg, joined at both ends. They bow apart in the middle.

How this list was compiled: Every name and detail line was checked on 2026-10-01, for facts only and with nothing copied: (1) W. H. Flower, An Introduction to the Osteology of the Mammalia, third edition, 1885 (public domain), https://archive.org/details/introductiontoos1885flow; (2) a university museum's species account of the nine-banded armadillo, https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Dasypus_novemcinctus/; (3) the same museum's accounts of the armadillo family and its order, https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Dasypodidae/ and https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Cingulata/; (4) Wikipedia, Armadillo; (5) F. E. Beddard, Mammalia, 1902 (public domain), the armadillo family, https://archive.org/details/mammalia00bedd; (6) Wikipedia, Xenarthra. A name that only one source gives is left out of the parts. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

Here is an armadillo skeleton labeled in two views. First comes the shell of a nine-banded armadillo, section by section; then the bones under it, seen from the left side inside a pale outline.

Read the full guide

Shell first, then bones

The first view is the animal from the side with its shell in sections: head shield, shoulder shield, movable bands, pelvic shield and tail rings. The round inset shows the small bones the shell is built from. The second view turns the shell into a dotted line and names the skeleton underneath.

What to look for

Several neck vertebrae are joined in one block. The loin vertebrae send tall processes up to the shell. The hip bone meets the backbone twice, and the tibia and fibula are joined at both ends.

  • A digger's skeleton: the upper arm is short and stout, the elbow end of the ulna is long, and the claw bones are big.
  • Shoulder shield in front, pelvic shield behind: the bands always lie between them.

Questions and answers

What is an armadillo's shell made of?

Small bones called osteoderms that form in the skin, each covered by a horny scale. They make a shield over the shoulders, a shield over the hips and movable bands between, with more on the head and the tail.

Is an armadillo's shell part of its skeleton?

It is bone, but it forms in the skin and not as part of the inner skeleton. Tall processes on the loin vertebrae rise to support it from below.

How many bands does a nine-banded armadillo have?

Usually nine show, though one university museum account gives a range of 8 to 11. The bands are the movable strips between the shoulder shield and the pelvic shield.

Why are armadillos called xenarthrans?

The name means strange joints. The vertebrae of the lower back have extra joints found in no other mammals, which stiffen the spine. Anteaters and sloths belong to the same group.

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