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Andean Hairy Armadillo ((Chaetophractus nationi)

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Mammalia
Order	Cingulata
Family	Dasypodidae
Genus	Chaetophractus

Physical Description:

-      Size = tail length: 3 – 7 inches

-      Head-body length: 8 – 16 inches

-      18 dorsal bands, 8 are movable

-      hair btwn majority of its scales

-      hair coveres legs and underside

-      color varies from yellowish to light brown

-      teeth are not covered in enamel, grow continuously(Liana & Vitali, 2009)

-      body temperature is regulated somewhat ectothermically

-      average mass = 75.77 oz      

Range      

-      endemic to Bolivia and northern Chile

-      andes mountain range

Physical Description

The Andean Hairy Armadillo averages a tail length of three to seven inches and a body length of eight to sixteen inches.  This armadillo is found to have eighteen dorsal bands, in which eight are considered movable. The Andean Hairy Armadillo gets its name genuinely because the armadillo has hair covering all of its ventral side and its legs as well (Nixon, 1995).    This species comes in a variety of colors ranging from light brown to yellow/beige. Their teeth are unique because they are continuously growing and do not contain enamel.  Their average weight tends to be four-in-a-half to five bounds. They maintain an internal temperature and use limb counter exchange as well (Frostic, 2002).

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Biology

-      Omnivore

-      sniffs its food out through the soil and leaf litter

-      digs up food using it’s fore-claws

-      diet includes fruits, roots, insects and even the flesh of rotting decay animals and through flesh to find maggots, birds, reptiles, eggs, grans, nuts(Liana & Vitali, 2009)

-      digs burrows for homes and raising young and protection

-      lifespan is usually 12 – 16 years

-      nocturnal during summer months, and forage during day in winter

-      each home range is approximately 3.4 hectares

-      communicat through tactile and chemical

Diet and Activity

Andean Hairy Armadillos are considered omnivores because they eat a variety of foods.  Their diet can consist of grains, roots, fruits and even small vertebrate.  These armadillos have even been found to eat rotting flesh and the maggots that are found within the flesh (Liana & Vitali, 2009).  These mammals find their food by digging through leaves and substrates while using their nose to detect possible meals.  They prefer open high-altitude grasslands to live in.

This armadillo finds shelter in tunnels and burrows that it digs itself using fore-claws.  Their territories are about eight acres in size.  Andean Hairy Armadillos sleep schedules depend on the temperature of their habitats.  In the summer months they are nocturnal and switch to diurnal during the season of winter.   The Andean Hairy Armadillo communicates with other armadillos through the use of chemicals, as well as through touch (Frostic, 2002).

Reproduction

-      polygynandrous, solitary (males and females come together only for mating)

-      males follow a female for many days

-      mate in fall

-      male armadillos have one of the longest penises in mammal kingdom (two-thirds of body length)

-      females pregnant for two months

-      female parental care

-      young are fully dependent on mother for 50 days

-      begin to forafe at one month

-      thought to reach maturity between 9 to 12 months(Liana & Vitali, 2009)

-      usually only has one to two offspring

-      gives birth in the summer

-      young are called a pup, female called zed and males called lister, group is called a fez

Habitat

-      open high-altitude grasslands

Reproduction

Male Andean Hairy Armadillos only pair up with a female during mating season.  They are a polygynandrous species and each adult lives a solitary life.  The male armadillo is known to have the longest penises, in proportion to the body size, of any mammal (Liana & Vitali, 2009).  Males are called lister and females are called zed (Valverde).Mating season begins in the fall and young, usually only two, are born two months after copulation.   (Nixon, 1995).  Offspring are referred to as pups and are born helpless. (Valverde).  They remain with their mother fully dependent for fifty days and are sexually mature by twelve months.

List status

-      vulnerable

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Threats

-      hunted and traded (only the nine-banded armadillo can contract leprosy

-      for food

-      shell for making musical instruments

-      bodyparts for amulets and traditional medicines

-      seen as a pest for its burrowing on agriculter lands(Liana & Vitali, 2009)

-      habitat loss from deforestation, road construction, and farming

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Aids to help the species

-      trading is prohibited by CITES (Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species)

-      national laws prohibit capture and trade in Bolivia

-      demand for products still continue (Liana & Vitali, 2009)

Threat and Conservation Aids Towards Species

The Andean Hairy Armadillo has been given a bad reputation of that with its nine-banded cousin, and falsely believed to carry leprosy (Clark, 2015).  The main threat to this species is being hunted and having its shell for musical instrument making, body parts for medical remedies, and for food.  Others, simply kill these armadillos because they find them as pest in that they cause agriculture destruction with their burrow making.  Another threat is the fact that they are losing much of their habitat to road construction, farming, and deforestation.  (Smith, 2013).  However, there are a few aids out there to try to help the species survive.  The Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) has banned all.

References

1. Nixon, Joshua (1995). "Hairy Armadillos". Genus Chaetophractus. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
2. Frostic, Anna (2002). "Animal Diversity Web ADW". Chaetophractus nationi: Andean hairy armadillo. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
3. Vitali & Muir, Liana & Lucie (April 9, 2009). "Andean hairy armadillo (Chaetophractus nationi)". Wildscreen Arkive. Retrieved December 3, 2013
4. Valverde, Guido. "Andean hairy armadillo". Andean hairy armadillo picutes and facts. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
5. Feldhamer, Drickamer, Vessey, Merritt, Krajewski, George, Lee, Stephen, Joseph, Carey (2015). Mammology: adaption, diversity, ecolgoy. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 346–347. ISBN 978-1421415888.
6. Clark, Laura (March 2, 2015). "SmartNews Keeping you current: How Armadillos can spread leprosy". Smithsonian.com. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
7. Smith, Maya (April 23, 2013). "Endangered Species: Andean Hairy Armadillo". Prezi. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
8. Abba, Cassini, Valverde, Tilak, Vizcino, Superina, & Delsuc, Agustin, Guillermo, Guido, Marie-Ka, Sergio, Mariella, & Frederic (2015). "Systematics of hairy armadillos and the taxonomic status of the Andean hairy armadillo (Chaetophractus nationi)". Journal of Mammology. 96.