The genus ''Tolypeutes'' contains the two species of three-banded

armadillo Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along wi ...

s. They are restricted to open and semi-open habitats in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. Of the several armadillo genera, only ''Tolypeutes'' rely heavily on their armor for protection. When threatened by a

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

, ''Tolypeutes'' species frequently roll up into a ball. Other armadillo species cannot roll up because they have too many plates. This species is endangered due to the deforestation done in their native land of Brazil, including the hunting by the locals. They may have this defense mechanism but they lack the ability to dig burrows such as their competition in that environment but, they will look for abandoned burrows. Deforestation is the main concern due to their downfall with digging burrows since they have nowhere to hide from predators or even locals.

Species

There are two recognized species:

References

*http://www.msu.edu/~nixonjos/armadillo/tolypeutes.html *http://www.thewebsiteofeverything.com/animals/mammals/Xenarthra/Dasypodidae/Tolypeutes/index.html * Melo, Siqueira, J. A., Santos, B. A., Álvares-da-Silva, O., Ceballos, G., & Bernard, E. (2014). Football and Biodiversity Conservation: FIFA and Brazil Can Still Hit a Green Goal. Biotropica, 46(3), 257–259. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12114 * Deem, Sharon L., et al. “Health Assessment of Free-Ranging Three-Banded (Tolypeutes Matacus) and Nine-Banded (Dasypus Novemcinctus) Armadillos in the Gran Chaco, Bolivia.” Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, vol. 40, no. 2, American Association of Zoo Veterinarians, 2009, pp. 245–56, https://doi.org/10.1638/2007-0120.1.

External links

Video
of a three-banded armadillo rolling itself into a ball Myrmecophagous mammals Armadillos Mammal genera Taxa named by Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger {{mammal-stub