The Houston Museum of Natural Science included access to the regular exhibits. We’ve seen this before: Dinosaurs.
We walked through the Hall of Paleontology. Since we’ve done dinosaurs already, here is
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- Mastodon wins fight with human.
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- Giant Armadillo. More info below.
From the museum’s sign:
GIANT ARMADILLO
Holmesina
True armadillos, with flexible shell-armor, also came into the southern states from South America. Our beloved local Texas armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus, arrived during this armored invasion. It was accompanied by a relative with far more gravitas— Holmesina—who reached weights of a quarter ton. One of the very best Holmesina skeletons is this one, collected from fossil beds right here in Houston. Its claws and feet are enlarged versions of the common Texas armadillo, and so are its jaws and teeth. That means the Texas giant armadillo probably ate prickly pear fruit, soft leaves, tubers of all sorts, and occasional bird nests and snakes.