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The giant armadillo ( Priodontes maximus), colloquially tatu-canastra, tatou, ocarro or tatú carreta, is the largest living species of armadillo (although their extinct relatives, the Glyptodontidae, were much larger). It lives in South America, ranging throughout as far south as northern Argentina. This species is considered vulnerable to extinction.
The giant armadillo prefers and some as prey, and often consumes the entire population of a termite mound. It also has been known to prey upon worms, larvae and larger creatures, such as spiders and snakes, and plants. Some giant armadillos have been reported to have eaten bees by digging into .
Giant armadillos typically weigh around when fully grown, however a specimen has been weighed in the wild and captive specimens have been weighed up to . Giant Armadillo , Arkive The typical length of the species is , with the tail adding another .Burnie D and Wilson DE (Eds.), Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife. DK Adult (2005),
Giant armadillos use their large front claws to dig for prey and rip open termite mounds. The diet is mainly composed of termites, although , , , other , small and carrion are also eaten. Little is currently known about this species' reproductive biology, and no juveniles have ever been discovered in the field. The average sleep time of a captive giant armadillo is said to be 18.1 hours. (front) at the Cambridge University Museum of Zoology in England]]Some giant armadillos have been reported to have eaten bees by digging into .
In a long-term study on the species, that started in 2003 in the Peruvian Amazon, dozens of other species of mammals, reptiles and birds were found using the giant armadillos' burrows on the same day, including the rare short-eared dog ( Atelocynus microtis). Because of this, the species is considered a habitat engineer, and the local extinction of Priodontes may have cascading effects in the mammalian community by impoverishing fossorial habitat.Leite Pitman et al. 2004 Additionally, the giant armadillo was once key to controlling Leafcutter ant populations which could destroy crops, but they can also damage crops themselves when digging through soil.
Female giant armadillos have two and have a gestational period of about five months. Evidence points to only giving birth once every three years. Little is known with certainty about their life history, although it is thought that the young are weaned by about seven to eight months of age, and that the mother periodically seals up the entrance to burrows containing younger offspring, presumably to protect them from predators. Although they have never bred in captivity, a wild-born giant armadillo at San Antonio Zoo was estimated to have been around sixteen years old when it died.
The giant armadillo is protected by law in Colombia, Guyana, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Suriname and Peru, and commercial international trade is banned by its listing on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). However, hunting for food and sale in the black market continues to occur throughout its entire range. Some populations occur in protected reserves, including the Parque das Emas in Brazil, and the Central Suriname Nature Reserve, a massive 1.6-million-hectare site of pristine rainforest managed by Conservation International. Such protection helps to some degree to mitigate the threat of habitat loss, but targeted conservation action is required to prevent the further decline of this species.
At least one zoo park, in Villavicencio, Colombia – Los Ocarros – is dedicated to this animal.
Threats
Hunted throughout its range, a single giant armadillo supplies a great deal of meat, and is the primary source of protein for some indigenous peoples. In addition, live giant armadillos are frequently captured for trade on the black market, and invariably die during transportation or in captivity. Despite this species' wide range, it is locally rare. This is further exacerbated by habitat loss resulting from deforestation. Current estimates indicate the giant armadillo may have undergone a worrying population decline of 30 to 50 percent over the past three decades. Without intervention, this trend is likely to continue.
Conservation
The giant armadillo was classified as vulnerable on the World Conservation Union's Red List in 2002, and is listed under Appendix I (threatened with extinction) of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.
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Categories: Armadillos, Myrmecophagous Mammals, Mammals Of Argentina, Mammals Of Bolivia, Mammals Of Brazil, Mammals Of Colombia, Mammals Of Ecuador, Mammals Of French Guiana, Mammals Of Guyana, Mammals Of Peru, Mammals Of Suriname, Mammals Of Venezuela, Fauna Of The Amazon, Fauna Of The Pantanal, Vulnerable Animals, Vulnerable Biota Of South America, Mammals Described In 1792, Taxa Named By Robert Kerr
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