That's me holding a young Chinese Pangolin (Manus pentadactyla) during a visit to the Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute. Pangolins are mammals in the order Pholidota and there are eight extant species distributed throughout Africa and South Asia. Their bodies are covered with keratinized scales and when threatened they roll into a ball. In fact, the name pangolin is from a Malay word which means "something that rolls up". Heavy rains often means bad news for burrowing animals and this individual and his mother and sibling were flooded out of their home during a particularly long bout of heavy rains in Taiwan during 2006. The wildlife hospital at the Endemic Species Institute takes in cases like this and rehabilitates them for later release back into the wild.