Tolypeutes

Tolypeutes
Southern three-banded armadillo
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Cingulata
Family:Chlamyphoridae
Subfamily:Tolypeutinae
Genus:Tolypeutes
Illiger, 1811
Species

See text

The genus Tolypeutes contains the two species of three-banded armadillos. They are restricted to open and semi-open habitats in South America.

Of the several armadillo genera, only Tolypeutes rely heavily on their armor for protection. When threatened by a predator, Tolypeutes species frequently roll up into a ball. Other armadillo species cannot roll up because they have too many plates.

Species

There are two recognized species:[1]

ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
Tolypeutes matacus (Desmarest, 1804)Southern three-banded armadillonorthern Argentina, southwestern Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia
Tolypeutes tricinctus (Linnaeus, 1758)Brazilian three-banded armadilloBrazil

References

  1. "Tolypeutes". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 17 March 2011.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.