Cabassous unicinctus
The southern naked-tailed armadillo is found east of the Andes from northern Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, through to Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname in the north, to the state of Mato Grosso do Sul (Brazil) in the south. Its presence in northeastern Brazil is doubtful and needs to be confirmed (Anacleto and Diniz, 2006).
The southern naked-tailed armadillo inhabits tropical lowland and submontane forest. Although it is not found in agricultural areas, it possibly occurs in secondary forest. Habitat degradation and fragmentation are advancing at a fast pace in the range of this species.
It is a relatively common species. Nevertheless, its biology and population status are not known.
There are no major threats to this species. Populations in the south of the range are subjected to some hunting and habitat loss (e.g., Machado et al., 1998; Aguiar and Fonseca, 2008).
C. unicinctus is listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population, its occurrence in a number of protected areas, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a threatened category. It is present in some protected areas.
Additional information and a complete list of references can be found in: Abba, A.M. and M. Superina (2010): The 2009/2010 Armadillo Red List Assessment. Edentata 11(2): 135-184. This article is available here.
