Cabassous centralis — Details

Geographic Range

Cabassous centralis is found in South America, including the area east of the Andes from northern Argentina to Colombia. It is also found in Central America from Panama into Guatemala (Peten region).

Biogeographic Regions: neotropical (Native )

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Physical Description

Morphology

Physical Description

The body of Cabassous centralis ranges from 30 cm to 71 cm. The tail varies from 10 cm to 18 cm. Cabassous centralis is called the naked-tail armadillo because its tail lacks the protective, keratinous plates found on its body. They are also called eleven-banded armadillos for the number of bands that make up their "armor." Some hair can be found in the spaces between the bands, on the limbs, and on the ventral surface of the body. Large claws adapted for digging are found on both the forefeet and hindfeet. The middle claw is especially large and sickle-shaped. Coloration is dark brown to almost black with yellow lateral areas and a yellow-gray underside. The head is broad with a short, wide snout and well-separated ears. This species walks on the tips of its claws on its forefeet and on the soles of the hindfeet. It is capable running rapidly for short distances to escape danger.

Range mass: 2 to 3 kg.

Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry

Average basal metabolic rate: 4.812 W.

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Type Information

Type for Cabassous centralis
Collection: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Division of Mammals
Sex/Stage: Female;
Preparation: Skin; Skull
Collector(s): E. Wittkugel
Year Collected: 1891
Locality: Chamelecon, Cortes, Honduras, North America

Type: Miller, G. S. 1899 Jan 31. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 13: 4.

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (CC BY 3.0)

Source: National Museum of Natural History Image Collection

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Ecology

Habitat

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology

C. centralis occurs in dry, to moderately moist (mesic), deciduous and semi-deciduous forests, at forest edges in rocky terrain and in open habitats such as dry savanna (Reid 1997). It has also been recorded in tropical moist montane forests, as well as in the subparamo of the Colombian Central Andean highlands (Díaz-N. and Sánchez-Giraldo 2008). It can be found in secondary forest habitat, and also tolerates a moderate mix of forest and agricultural land. It is a solitary, insectivorous species, partly adapted to digging and life underground.

Systems

Terrestrial

Source: IUCN

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Habitat

Generally inhabit grasslands and wooded areas. Prefer areas with thick vegetation as a method of hiding from predators. They live in burrows with the entrance opening to open ground or the base of an embankment.

Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; forest ; rainforest ; scrub forest

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Trophic Strategy

Food Habits

Diet consists almost exclusively of insects. These include larvae and adult scarab beetles, termites, and ants. They are also known to eat earthworms, bird eggs, and small reptiles and amphibians. C. centralis, like other armadillo species, use their digging abilities to burrow into termite mounds in search of food. Prey is extracted from the tunnels by a long, extensible tongue. They can locate insects in the soil by their keen sense of smell.

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Life History and Behavior

Life Expectancy

Lifespan, longevity, and ageing

Observations: Little is known about the longevity of these animals but one specimen lived 8 years in captivity (Richard Weigl 2005). Their maximum longevity may be much longer, though.

Source: AnAge

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Reproduction

Not much research has been done specifically on the reproduction patterns of C. centralis.

Average number of offspring: 1.

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Conservation

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List Assessment

Red List Category

Data Deficient

Red List Criteria

Version

3.1

Year Assessed

2010

Assessor/s

Superina, M. Abba, A. M.

Reviewer/s

Tirira, D. & Díaz-N., J.

Contributor/s

Justification

Cabassous centralis is listed as Data Deficient due to limited knowledge on the current status of extant populations and a lack of available information on the impacts of habitat loss and other threats. Habitat destruction is, however, advancing at a fast pace throughout the range of C. centralis, which may soon justify its classification as Vulnerable under criteria A4c.

History

2006

Data Deficient

(IUCN 2006)
1996

Data Deficient

Source: IUCN

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Conservation Status

CITES: no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: data deficient

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Trends

Population

Population

C. centralis is apparently rare and patchily distributed. Individuals are not commonly seen or captured, which may be due to its secretive habits. The population trend is unknown.

Population Trend

Unknown

Source: IUCN

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Threats

Major Threats

The threats to this species are not known. Throughout most of its range, C. centralis is not hunted for food because of its pungent odour and local beliefs. The species is, however, indistinctively hunted along its known Andean distribution. Some Andean populations are facing severe impacts due to urbanization of their natural habitat. C. centralis is distributed throughout the Tropical Dry Forest, one of the most threatened habitats of northwestern South America, which in Colombia has been reduced to 1.5% of its original area (Etter 1993). Although its sensitivity to habitat loss is not known and the species seems to tolerate some degree of habitat degradation, it seems to prefer primary, well-preserved forests. The severe habitat transformations are therefore likely to have a negative impact on the species.

Source: IUCN

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Management

Conservation Actions

Conservation Actions

This armadillo species has been recorded from a number of protected areas, such as Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve, Mache-Chindul Ecological Reserve, Manglares Cayapas-Mataje Ecological Reserve and Bilsa Protected Forest in Ecuador. There is a need to determine the population status of the species throughout its range, as well as potential threats.

Source: IUCN

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Relevance to Humans and Ecosystems

Benefits

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

C. centralis eat some species of insects that are harmful to farm crops. They are not considered a threat to crops like some other species of armadillos.

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Wikipedia

Northern naked-tailed armadillo

The northern naked-tailed armadillo (Cabassous centralis) is a species of armadillo.^[2] It is found from Chiapas in southern Mexico to western Colombia, northwestern Ecuador and northwestern Venezuela, at altitudes from sea level to 3000 m.^[1] It is one of only two species of armadillos found outside of South America (the other being the more widely distributed Nine-banded Armadillo).

This armadillo is seldom sighted, and may be rare and/or patchily distributed.^[1] It is a solitary, partly fossorial insectivore. Its habitats include tropical dry forest, moderately moist forest, cloud forest and forest edges, including secondary and agriculturally disturbed forest, as well as in dry savanna and Colombian subparamo.^[1] However, it appears to prefer undisturbed primary forest, and thus may be vulnerable to deforestation and other forms of habitat disturbance.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Superina, M. & Abba, A. M. (2010). "Cabassous centralis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/3412. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
^ Gardner, Alfred L. (16 November 2005). "Order Cingulata (pp. 94-99)". In Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). p. 97. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=11700044.

Wikispecies has information related to: Cabassous centralis

Extant Cingulata (Armadillos) species by subfamily

Kingdom Animalia · Phylum Chordata · Class Mammalia · Infraclass Eutheria · Superorder Xenarthra

Dasypodinae

Dasypus	Southern Long-nosed Armadillo (D. hybridus) · Greater Long-nosed Armadillo (D. kappleri) · Nine-banded Armadillo (D. novemcinctus) · Hairy Long-nosed Armadillo (D. pilosus) · Llanos Long-nosed Armadillo (D. sabanicola) · Seven-banded Armadillo (D. septemcinctus) · Yepes's Mulita (Dasypus yepesi)

Euphractinae

Calyptophractus	Greater Fairy Armadillo (C. retusus)

Chaetophractus	Andean Hairy Armadillo (C. nationi) · Screaming Hairy Armadillo (C. vellerosus) · Big Hairy Armadillo (C. villosus)

Chlamyphorus	Pink Fairy Armadillo (C. truncatus)

Euphractus	Six-banded Armadillo (E. sexcinctus)

Zaedyus	Pichi (Z. pichiy)

Tolypeutinae

Cabassous	Northern Naked-tailed Armadillo (C. centralis) · Chacoan Naked-tailed Armadillo (C. chacoensis) · Greater Naked-tailed Armadillo (C. tatouay) · Southern Naked-tailed Armadillo (C. unicinctus)

Priodontes	Giant Armadillo (P. maximus)

Tolypeutes	Southern Three-banded Armadillo (T. matacus) · Brazilian Three-banded Armadillo (T. tricinctus)

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