Six-banded armadillo

Six-banded armadillo
In the Pantanal, Brazil
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Cingulata
Family:	Chlamyphoridae
Subfamily:	Euphractinae
Genus:	Euphractus Wagler, 1830
Species:	E. sexcinctus
Binomial name
Euphractus sexcinctus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Six-banded armadillo range in green

The six-banded armadillo (Euphractus sexcinctus) also known as the yellow armadillo, is a species of armadillo from South America. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and isolated populations in Suriname (there known as siksi-banti kapasi). Its body is usually yellowish in color, sometimes tan or light reddish-brown. It belongs to the monotypic genus Euphractus.

It is a solitary terrestrial animal, living in many habitats from rainforest to grassland, but mainly found on open areas, such as cerrado plains. It is omnivorous, feeding on a wide range of plant and animal matter. It shelters in a den underground. Unlike most species of armadillo, the six-banded armadillo is mostly diurnal rather than nocturnal.^[2]

Subspecies

• Euphractus sexcinctus boliviae Thomas, 1907
• Euphractus sexcinctus flavimanus Desmarest, 1804
• Euphractus sexcinctus setosus Wied, 1826
• Euphractus sexcinctus tucumanus Thomas, 1911

Drawing of the six-banded armadillo

References

1. Cuellar, E. & Members of the IUCN SSC Edentate Specialist Group (2008). Euphractus sexcinctus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
2. Bird, B. 1999. Euphractus sexcinctus (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved 22 September 2007.

• Louise H. Emmons and Francois Feer. (1997). Neotropical Rainforest Mammals, A Field Guide, 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press ISBN 0-226-20721-8
• Gardner, A. (2005). Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.