"Every armadillo I've seen - and there have been many - were on the side of the road with their legs in the air."
Further proof that they are related to possums, except possums tend to lay on their sides with their internal organs displayed externally. Unless that's all part of "playing possum."
There's a big old possum that likes to sneak up on my deck and eat the dogs' leftovers. On the occasions where the dogs have caught him, he plays possum - and let me tell you, it completely freaks out my oldest dog. He now thinks that he can kill with a loud bark, and the guilt adds too his neuroses.