Tolypeutes tricinctus

Brazilian three-banded armadillo

Features
By Noel Ortiz-Colon

Geographic Range

Tolypeutes tricinctus are found in northeastern Brazil, the Caatinga biome, and central Brazil, the Cerrado biome. They have mainly been spotted in São Paulo, Bahia, Goiás, and Minas Gerais. Very few occurrences in Tocantins and Piauí. They are thought to have vanished in the far northeast states of Sergipe, Pernambuco, and Ceará. Vanishing in those states shows how they had a broader range, but due to the destruction of their habitats, their distribution has been reduced.

Habitat

Tolypeutes tricinctus habitat is within the Caatinga and Cerrado regions of Brazil, which are known for their high seasonality and low precipitation. Caatinga and Cerrado both fall within their preferred habitat type as they hold dry forests, grasslands, and xeric shrubland, with a hot, dry climate that has very low rainfall. They prefer grassy habitat types because they need an abundance of bushes and small trees to use as cover and burrow under them.

Physical Description

Tolypeutes tricinctus has a brown dome-shaped carapace that is composed of rigid pelvic and scapular shielding and has three movable bands that separate it. Their shielding is composed of osteoderm scales. They have a pointed head that follows into a pointed snout, slender cheekbones, and scutes similar to their carapace on the dorsal side of their head. They have long claws on their forelimbs. The adults have an average tail length of 65 mm and a height of less than 5 mm.

Compared to other species within the Tolypeutes genus, they are distinct for their small size and having two pairs of cephalic shields on their head as opposed to a singular one.

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • male larger

Development

When born, Tolypeutes tricinctus juveniles are noticeably smaller, have a pink coloration, and carapaces that are not fully formed and softer than the adults.

Reproduction

Tolypeutes tricinctus males create lines of more than ten to reproduce with females. The males fight with each other to mate with females. They have been seen charging and jumping at each other and interlocking legs, causing them to roll around to gain the female's attention. The males also attempt to knock off other males while copulating. This behavior is meant to show the female that she has the highest level of defense when pregnant and taking care of the cubs.

Their reproduction cycle consists of an annual mating season between October and November, followed by a gestation period of 90 to 120 days, and finally giving live birth to one or two cubs between February and March. Cubs have a weaning period of 72 days from birth.

Females dig burrows for cubs to give birth and nurse for a few nights after birth due to their soft carapace. Males also protect the burrow that the mother and cub reside in.

Lifespan/Longevity

In a captive environment, they have been able to live for 17 years. Wild lifespan is unreported in the literature.

Behavior

Tolypeutes tricinctus are crepuscular and nocturnal. Their social behavior is solitary, living in low population densities and reducing interactions by mainly spending time in their underground burrows. They spend most of their time in the shallow burrows they dig for parental care and to help them reduce their temperatures through thermoregulation.

Home Range

Males have an average home range of 2.38km². Females have an average home range of 0.24km². Non-adult males have an average range of 0.66km².

Communication and Perception

There are no known distinct patterns of communication between Tolypeutes tricinctus individuals. Another species within the genus Tolypeutes , T. macatus , have a harsh distress call when picked up to possibly communicate that they’re in peril to other individuals within the population.

Food Habits

Tolypeutes tricinctus are specialized insectivores that primarily feed on ants and termites. They are specialized for these insects due to their lightly built cranium and less robust teeth than other Cingulata species.

  • Animal Foods
  • insects

Predation

Tolypeutes tricinctus are widely known for their primary defense maneuver of rolling into a tight ball. They use their tough carapace as a protective shield against predators. Meaning that their only predators are humans and large apex predators with teeth or claws hard enough to pierce their carapace. They have a secondary defense maneuver in which they defecate if touched. Their feces have a foul smell that deters predators and makes them inedible.

Ecosystem Roles

There is currently no known information on the role Tolypeutes tricinctus plays in its respective ecosystem. Although there is no information on Tolypeutes tricinctus , their order, Cingulata, is important in their ecosystems through their creation of burrows. The burrows can create new habitats in which vertebrates and invertebrates can seek refuge. They also modify ecosystem features by increasing nutrient availability, altering vegetation, and promoting sediment movement.

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

Tolypeutes tricinctus have had positive economic effects due to being hunted as a source of food since the 17th century, and are used by locals as medicine for asthma, diarrhea, headaches, inflammation, and earache.

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

There are no known adverse effects of Tolypeutes tricinctus on humans.

Conservation Status

Tolypeutes tricinctus has had an estimated 30% population decline within the last 10 to 15 years. Their conservation status has been declining due to overhunting by the local human population that uses them for food and medicine. Another factor in the decline is their low reproduction rate, as they only have one to two offspring at a time.

Encyclopedia of Life

Contributors

Noel Ortiz-Colon (author), Texas State University, Tanya Dewey (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Neotropical

living in the southern part of the New World. In other words, Central and South America.

World Map

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

tropical

the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.

terrestrial

Living on the ground.

tropical savanna and grassland

A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.

savanna

A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.

temperate grassland

A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.

scrub forest

scrub forests develop in areas that experience dry seasons.

endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

polygynous

having more than one female as a mate at one time

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

viviparous

reproduction in which fertilization and development take place within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female.

altricial

young are born in a relatively underdeveloped state; they are unable to feed or care for themselves or locomote independently for a period of time after birth/hatching. In birds, naked and helpless after hatching.

female parental care

parental care is carried out by females

fossorial

Referring to a burrowing life-style or behavior, specialized for digging or burrowing.

nocturnal

active during the night

crepuscular

active at dawn and dusk

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

solitary

lives alone

territorial

defends an area within the home range, occupied by a single animals or group of animals of the same species and held through overt defense, display, or advertisement

acoustic

uses sound to communicate

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

scent marks

communicates by producing scents from special gland(s) and placing them on a surface whether others can smell or taste them

visual

uses sight to communicate

tactile

uses touch to communicate

acoustic

uses sound to communicate

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

soil aeration

digs and breaks up soil so air and water can get in

food

A substance that provides both nutrients and energy to a living thing.

drug

a substance used for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease

carnivore

an animal that mainly eats meat

insectivore

An animal that eats mainly insects or spiders.

References

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Anacleto, T., J. Diniz-Filho, M. Vital. 2007. Estimating potential geographic ranges of armadillos (Xenarthra, Dasypodidae) in Brazil under niche-based models. Mammalia , 70: 202–213. Accessed March 02, 2025 at https://doi.org/10.1515/MAMM.2006.039 .

Attias, N., E. Gurarie, W. Fagan, G. Mourão. 2020. Ecology and social biology of the southern three-banded armadillo (Tolypeutes matacus; Cingulata: Chlamyphoridae). Journal of Mammalogy , 101(6): 1692-1705.

Attias, N., F. Miranda, L. Sena, W. Tomas, G. Mourão. 2016. Yes, they can! Three-banded armadillos Tolypeutes sp. (Cingulata: Dasypodidae) dig their burrows. Zoologia (Curitiba) , 33: 1-8. Accessed March 05, 2025 at https://doi.org/10.1590/S1984-4689zool-20160035 .

Chiarello, A., L. Aguiar, R. Cerqueira, F. Melo, F. Rodrigues, V. Silva. 1994. Red Book of Brazilian Mammals Threatened with Extinction. . Belo Horizonte: Biodiversitas Foundation.

Feijó, A., G. Garbinos, B. Campos, P. Rocha, S. Ferrari, A. Langguth. 2015. Distribution of Tolypeutes Illiger, 1811 (Xenarthra: Cingulata) with comments on its biogeography and conservation. Zoological Science , 32: 77-87. Accessed March 04, 2025 at https://doi.org/10.2108/zs140186 .

Gardner, A. 2008. Mammals of South America, Volume 1 : Marsupials, Xenarthrans, Shrews, and Bats . Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Accessed March 04, 2025 at https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.libproxy.txstate.edu/lib/txstate/detail.action?docID=408360. .

Guimarães, M., O. Marini-Filho. 2010. Comportamento Sexual de Tatu-Bola (Tolypeutes tricinctus, Dasypodidae). Edentata , 11: 76-77. Accessed March 02, 2025 at https://doi.org/10.1896/020.011.0114 .

Gutiérrez, E., J. Marinho-Filho. 2017. The mammalian faunas endemic to the Cerrado and the Caatinga. Zookeys , 644: 105-157. Accessed March 05, 2025 at https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.644.10827 .

Magalhaes, R., P. Barnes, M. Drumond, L. Mendes de Sena, F. Rodrigues. 2024. Local Ecological Knowledge on the Natural History and Human-Fauna Relationships of the Brazilian Three-banded Armadillo (Tolypeutes tricinctus) in Northeast Brazil. JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY , 44: 293-304. Accessed March 04, 2025 at https://doi.org/10.1177/02780771241261227 .

Magalhães, , Sena, Rodrigues. 2021. First records of Brazilian three-banded armadillo (Tolypeutes tricinctus, Mammalia, Cingulata, Chlamyphoridae) predation by jaguar (Panthera onca, Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae). Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia , 61: 1-6. Accessed March 05, 2025 at https://doi.org/10.11606/1807-0205/2021.61.58 .

Magalhães, R., R. Massara, F. de Oliveira, F. Rodrigues. 2022. The Brazilian three-banded armadillo is widely distributed in a human-modified landscape in northeastern Brazil. Mammal Research , 68: 53-62. Accessed March 06, 2025 at https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-022-00651-5 .

Marinho-Filho, J., M. Gnimaraes, M. Reis, F. Rodrigues, O. Torres, G. Almeida. 1997. The discovery of the Brazilian three banded armadillo in the Cerrado of Central Brazil. Edentata , 3: 11-13.

Miranda, F., N. Moraes-Barros, M. Superina, A. Abba. 2014. "Tolypeutes tricinctus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014" (On-line). Red List. Accessed March 02, 2025 at https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/21975/47443455 .

Nowak, R. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World . United Kingdom: John Hopkins: University Press..

Rodrigues, T., A. Mantellatto, M. Superina, A. Chiarello. 2019. Ecosystem services provided by armadillos. Biological Reviews , 95/1: 1-21. Accessed March 02, 2025 at https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12551 .

Schetino, M., D. Campos, T. Anacleto, F. Santos. 2021. Record of the species Tolypeutes tricinctus Linnaeus, 1758 (Cingulata: Tolypeutinae) in northern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Lundiana: International Journal of Biodiversity , 14: 1-4. Accessed March 04, 2025 at https://doi.org/10.35699/2675-5327.2021.34678 .

Superina, M., W. Loughry. 2012. Life on the Half-Shell: Consequences of a Carapace in the Evolution of Armadillos (Xenarthra: Cingulata). Journal of Mammalian Evolution , 19: 217-224. Accessed March 04, 2025 at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-011-9166-x .

To cite this page: Ortiz-Colon, N. 2025. "Tolypeutes tricinctus" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed {%B %d, %Y} at https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Tolypeutes_tricinctus/

Last updated: 2025-17-01 / Generated: 2025-11-24 03:01

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