Escudo de la República de Colombia Escudo de la República de Colombia
Panel de Accesibilidad

✎ Juan Pablo Rodríguez Malaver

✎ Juan Pablo Rodríguez Malaver

✎ Camilo Alméciga

Gigant Armadillo
Priodontes maximusOrinoquia region

  • Generalities
  • Morpho-functionality
  • Lifecycle
  • Distribution

RECORRIDO VIRTUAL POR LA BIODIVERSIDAD DE COLOMBIA
Museo de Historia Natural
Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Gigant Armadillo
Priodontes maximus

It is the largest armadillo in the world, it can measure 1.5 meters in length and weigh more than 50 kg. It uses its claws to dig for food and to make burrows. Its habits are mainly nocturnal and it can travel more than 2 km per day looking for food. Their diet consists mainly of insects, arachnids, and worms.

Conservation status

Extinct

Extinct in the Wild

Critically Endangered

Endangered

Vulnerable

Near Threatened

Least Concern

Not Evaluated

Data Deficient

Morpho-functionality

Shell

Its protective shell is made up of dermal bony plates that meet in rows, but are not articulated.

Claws

It has a huge claw on its front legs that it uses when digging in the ground either to open burrows or extract ants or termites.

Teeth

It can have up to a hundred teeth, which help it chew its prey. Over time these are loose.

Lifecycle

Due in part to their underground habits, their reproductive biology is poorly understood. It is estimated that the gestation period lasts four months. The female gives birth to a young, occasionally two, which could weigh 1.9 to 3.5 kg at birth. It is suggested that weaning occurs at seven or eight months. The calf remains in the burrow while the mother leaves and, to prevent any predator from attacking the defenseless baby, the female closes the entrance to the burrow with dirt. It is believed that the calf can go out and do exploratory tours even without being weaned. Sexual maturity is reached at one year of age. This species can live up to fifteen years.

Gigant Armadillo

Distribution

It inhabits the eastern Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and northwestern Venezuela, in French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and northern Argentina. It is found mainly in the Amazon basin up to an altitude of 500 m. Prefers habitats with termites such as savannas, floodplains, arid and semi-arid forests, and occasionally in tropical and subtropical forests.

Distribution area