Armadillos are New World placental mammals with a leathery armour shell. Dasypodidae is the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra, along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo means "little armoured one" in Spanish. The Aztecs called them ayotochtli , Nahuatl for "turtle-rabbit": ayotl (turtle) and tochtli (rabbit).