Armadillos are a hodgepodge of different animal parts and behaviours rarely seen together—in short, they’re oddballs! In this companion to The Upside-Down Book of Sloths (ISBN 978 1 324 01577 2), Elizabeth Shreeve explores the evolutionary history of armadillos and how they became the burrowing, swimming, roly-poly, armoured predators of today. She pairs modern species like the adorable pink fairy armadillo, the chilling screaming hairy armadillo and the iconic nine-banded armadillo with their ancient counterparts, such as the glyptodont, which could be as large as a car, had a turtle-like dome of armour and even a spiked tail club!

Entertaining, educational and completely endearing, The Oddball Book of Armadillos digs deep into armadillos, their evolutionary history and their future in our changing world.