For the first time ever, scientists working in the Brazilian Pantanal have documented the birth of a giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus). These solitary creatures, which can weigh as much as 110 pounds (50 kg), are so elusive that some consider them more myth than reality. But when a team of biologists suspected that …

This is one of the few photos ever taken of the giant armadillo, a five feet long behemoth that lives a nocturnal, solitary life in isolated wetlands of central Brazil. You can probably see why these things are so rare.