Revision of the naked-tailed armadillos, genus Cabassous McMurtrie

Abstract

Examination of most of the specimens, including holotypes, of Cabas sous that are extant in the major collections indicates the following taxa and distributions: C. centralis (Miller), Central and South America to northwestern Venezuela; C. unicinctus unicinctus (L.), east of the Andes and north of the Amazon; C. u. squamicaudis (Lund), intergrading with C. u. unicinctus along the Amazon-Solimoes and thence south to the Mato Grosso; C. chacoensis, a new species of the Gran Chaco; C. tatouay (Desmarest), from the southeastern highlands of Brazil to Uruguay and northeastern Argentina; and a larger, extinct species, cf. C. antiquus (Lund), from the caverns of Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo. The natural history of the genus is summarized, lectotypes of C. u. squamicaudis (Lund) and C. nudicaudis (Lund) are selected, and a key for identification of the taxa is presented.