Widespread Armadillo Is Actually Four Different Species

However, a new study just published in Systematic Biology by Assistant Curator of Mammals Anderson Feijó and collaborators used DNA and museum specimens to reveal that the nine-banded armadillo is actually four very similar but genetically distinct species, including one new to science.Frédéric Delsuc of France’s Scientific Research Center (CNRS), the study’s senior author, began working on armadillo genetics in 1998, comparing samples from the invasive US populations with those found in French Guiana. His work pointed to splits within the nine-banded species, but at the time there wasn’t enough evidence to formally separate them into different species, as a more geographically widespread sampling was lacking. For the new study, Frédéric, Anderson, and an international team* built a much larger sample set of nine-banded armadillos (81), including skeletons and skins in museum collections (including the Field’s) as well as blood and tissue for DNA work.The combination of genetic data and morphological traits led the scientists to the conclusion that the nine-banded armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus, is actually four genetically distinct species. Accordingly, several subspecies within this species have been elevated to being species in their own right. The armadillos found in Mexico and the United States, formerly considered the subspecies Dasypus novemcinctus mexicanus, are now just Dasypus mexicanus, the Mexican long-nosed armadillo (accordingly, the state mammal of Texas is now renamed). Dasypus fenestratus, found in the central part of the range, has been elevated from subspecies to species, and the original species name novemcinctus is now restricted to South America. Meanwhile, the data showed that another branch of the armadillo family tree didn’t belong in any of these three pre-existing groups: Dasypus guianensis, the Guianan long-nosed armadillo, found in the Guiana Shield. “They’re almost impossible to differentiate in the field,” says Frédéric, but “this news species is a bit bigger than the other three, has slightly longer hairs, and has an additional neck bone. That said, the delineation of four separate species suggests that each might have distinct ecological requirements. Thus, different food and habitat requirements could impact efforts to preserve healthy populations of these animals in different areas via re-populating individuals from one area to another. While the nine-banded armadillo has not been considered endangered, Anderson emphasizes that “this discovery totally shifts the way we think about conservation for these species and the way we think about how threatened they are.” You can read more in the press release, Newsweek, Miami Herald, MSN, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and Popular Science. * From the University of Montpellier, Uppsala University, the University of Cyprus, the Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education at Ensenada, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Valdosta State University, and the Institut Pasteur de la Guyane.
July 12. 2024