Yepes's mulita or the Yungas lesser long-nosed armadillo (''Dasypus mazzai'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

armadillo Armadillos () are New World placental mammals in the order (biology), order Cingulata. They form part of the superorder Xenarthra, along with the anteaters and sloths. 21 extant species of armadillo have been described, some of which are dis ...

in the family Dasypodidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

dry

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s. The species was renamed ''D. yepesi'' because the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

of ''D. mazzai'' was suspected to correspond of other species of ''

Dasypus ''Dasypus'' is the only extant genus in the family Dasypodidae. Its species are known as long-nosed or naked-tailed armadillos. They are found in South America, South, Central America, Central, and North America, as well as on the Caribbean islan ...

'', which it was later proved wrong, becoming ''D. yepesi'' a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of ''D. mazzai''.

Geographic range

Yepes's mulita is found in the Jujuy and

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Salta Province, the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the List of cities in Argentina, 7th most-populous ...

provinces of

, however its range may extend to parts of

and

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. Due to the lack of data on the species, no more than nine populations are known. It is mostly found in altitudes of 450-1800m (1476 ft - 5905 ft). Its habitat ranges from deserts to humid forests.

Use and trade

The species is known to be hunted locally for food.

Conservation

Because so little is known about Yepes's mulita, it is listed as "Data Deficient" by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

. There is ongoing deforestation in its range and its habitat is considered fragmented, which adds to the conservation concerns. The species has been designated for protection in Parque Nacional Calilegua and Parque Nacional El Rey in northern Argentina.

References

Armadillos Fauna of Argentina Fauna of Bolivia Mammals of Argentina Mammals of Bolivia Least concern biota of South America Mammals described in 1995 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{mammal-stub