Cabassous tatouay ( Desmarest, 1804 )

Feijó, Anderson & Anacleto, Teresa Cristina, 2021, Taxonomic revision of the genus Cabassous McMurtrie, 1831 (Cingulata Chlamyphoridae), with revalidation of Cabassous squamicaudis (Lund, 1845), Zootaxa 4974 (1), pp. 47-78 : 61-62

Cabassous tatouay ( Desmarest, 1804)

Greater naked-tailed armadillo

lor[icatus]. tatouay Desmarest, 1804:28 .

[Dasypus] dasycercus G. Fischer, 1814:124 . Type locality “Paraquaia”.

[ Dasypus] gymnurus Illiger, 1815:108 . Nomen nudum.

T[atus] gymnurus Olfers, 1818:220 . Type locality “ Paraguay ”.

Tatusia tatouay: Lesson, 1827:311 . Name combination.

Dasypus gymnurus: Rengger, 1830:290 . Name combination.

Xenurus nudicaudis Lund, 1839a:231 . Nomen nudum.

Xenurus nudicaudus Lund, 1839b:81 (preprint of 1841b:143). Type locality “Rio das Velhas, Minas Gerais, Brazil ” ( Wetzel et al. 2008:150).

Dasypus 12-cinctus : Burmeister, 1854:282. Variant spelling of, but not Dasypus duodecim cinctus Schreber (1774 :Pl. lxxv).

Xenurus tatouay: Gervais, 1855:254 . Name combination.

Xenurus unicinctus: Gray, 1865:378 . Part; Not Dasypus unicinctus Linnaeus, 1758 .

Xenurus gymnurus: Fitzinger, 1871:242 . Name combination.

Tatoua unicincta: Miller, 1899:2 . Not Dasypus unicinctus Linnaeus, 1758 .

Xenurus duodecimcinctus: Winge, 1915:32 . Not Dasypus duodecim cinctus Schreber, 1774 .

D[asypus]. nudi-cauda Larrañaga, 1923:343. Type locality “Provincia Paracuarensi”, based on Azara (1802:131).

Cabassous tatouay: Cabrera, 1958:219 . First use of current name combination.

Cabassous gymnurus: Ximénez, Langguth, & Praderi, 1972:14 . Name combination.

Cabassous duodecimcinctus: Paula-Couto, 1973:267 . Name combination.

Type. Loricatus tatouay of Desmarest (1804:28) was based on the “Le tatouay ” of Azara (1801:155). Because no armadillo specimen from Azara’s expedition is known to have survived ( Feijó et al. 2018), the species currently lacks a name-bearing type.

Type locality. Desmarest (1804) did not mention the type locality but Cabrera (1958) defined as Paraguay, at 27 ° latitude south, which crosses the Ñeembucú, Misiones and Itapúa departments ( Wetzel 1980:349).

Diagnosis. This species can be easily differentiated from other congeneric taxa by its large size ( Table 1 ). The cephalic scutes (35-57) exhibit a concentric organization surrounding a large, central and hexagonal scute ( Figure 6 ). Small scutes are sparsely distributed in the region around the eye and cheek. The carapace varies from yellowish-brown, light brown to blackish, with 12-14 movable bands. The tail has sparse small scutes mainly distributed on the dorsal and distal region. In some of the examined individuals (~20%), the tail exhibits a pale tip. The palate is long and the pterygoid extends to the basisphenoid-basioccipital suture, aligned with the squamosal root of the zygomatic ( Figure 4e ).

Geographic distribution. Cabassous tatouay is distributed from Brazil to Uruguay ( Figure 8 ), including eastern Paraguay ( Smith 2009) and northern Argentina, in Misiones and Corrientes ( Abba et al. 2012; Varela et al. 2019). In Brazil, the species occurs in northeastern, central and southern portions of the country. In the Brazilian Amazon region, the available records are inconclusive as they are based on two specimens housed at the British Natural History Museum (BMNH) that indicate only “State of Pará”. Wetzel (1980, 1985) tentatively assigned them to southern Pará. Until recently, the northernmost limit of C. tatouay was placed at Minas Gerais state ( Wetzel et al. 2008; Superina et al. 2013; Hayssen 2014c; Gonzalez & Abba 2014; Chiarello et al. 2015), but this species was recorded further north in Paraíba, Pernambuco and Ceará states, northeastern Brazil ( Feijó & Langguth 2013). On the other hand, the southernmost limit of C. tatouay was once considered Buenos Aires, Argentina ( Redford & Eisenberg 1992; Wetzel 1985; Wetzel et al. 2008) based on Moeller (1968). However, no reliable record of the species is known from Buenos Aires (e.g. Abba & Vizcaíno 2008; Varela et al. 2019). Excluding this dubious record, the southern distributional limit lies at Maldonado, Uruguay ( Gonzalez & Lanfranco 2012; Queirolo 2016).

Although C. tatouay has been recorded in both forested and open biomes, it seems to prefer forested habitats. Even when in open biomes, it was recorded in more humid areas, as in the montane forest of Brejos de altitude in the Caatinga domain ( Feijó & Langguth 2013), xeromorphic forest in Cerrado (CMNX 77), and mountain region in Uruguayan savannas ( Gonzalez & Lanfranco 2012; Queirolo 2016). Evidence shows that C. tatouay might tolerate secondary habitat, but not degraded or agricultural lands ( Aguiar 2004), with only a single record in manioc plantation (AMNH 133314).

Figures

FIGURE 4. Skulls and mandibles of Cabassous species. (a) C. squamicaudis (AMNH 133318). (b) C. unicinctus (AMNH 136256). (c) C. centralis (AMNH 10752). (d) C. chacoensis (skull: CM 67067, the holotype). (e) C. tatouay (skull: MCN-M 2109, mandible: CMNX 77).

FIGURE 6. Dorsal view of the head of Cabassous species. Note that C. chacoensis has much smaller ears in relation to its congeners and C. squamicaudis has a larger number of scutes on the cephalic shield. Images not in scale.

FIGURE 8. Distribution of the five living species of Cabassous in the Neotropical region. Question marks represent unconfirmed occurrence.