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Southern Three-banded Armadillo | Daily Animal Facts

Animal profile

Southern Three-banded Armadillo

Tolypeutes matacus

MammaliaDry Chaco scrub, savanna and thorn forestNear Threatened

Field profile

The southern three-banded armadillo is a small armoured mammal of the South American dry lands. Unlike most of its relatives it can enclose itself completely inside its shell. It feeds mostly on ants and termites and shelters in abandoned burrows rather than digging its own.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2023-06-04

Southern Three-banded Armadillo

Only three-banded armadillos can fully roll into a ball

The rolled-up armadillo of cartoons is real, but it is restricted to one genus of two species. Most armadillos have a shell too tightly fitted to the body to close, and they flee down a burrow instead.

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