[2] Did You Know?

Long-nosed armadillos, genus Dasypus, always give birth to 4 identical offspring. The fertilized egg splits into quarters, producing four perfectly identical quadruplets. These armadillos are the only vertebrates known to exhibit this characteristic. One possible reason for this might be to encourage the offspring to be altruistic, or to help each other. The more likely reason however, would be to overcome the physical constraint in the female's reproductive system that only leaves space for one egg prior to implantation.