Texas’ state mammal gets new name

Research has shown that a group of armadillos originally thought to be a single species may actually consist of four separate species.

The nine-banded armadillo, the official small mammal of Texas, may actually be four different species, one of which is new to science, according to a new paper in the journal Systematic biology.

This is the first new species of armadillo discovered in the past thirty years and means that the armadillo species found in the US has a new name.

Armadillos are small mammals with distinctive armor-like shells made of bony plates and covered with leathery skin, which provide protection from predators. The nine-banded armadillo –Dasypus novemcinctus– was thought to be found between the central US and Argentina, after expanding its range from South America into Central America and the US, as far north as Illinois and Nebraska.

Using DNA and museum samples, researchers have discovered that what was once thought to be one species made up of several subspecies is actually four very similar but genetically distinct species of armadillos.

“It was generally accepted that the nine-banded armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus, extends from northern Argentina all the way to southern Illinois, but in recent years some scientists have provided evidence that this is actually a complex of several different species,” study co-author Frédéric Delsuc, research director at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS ) in France, a statement said.

“By studying the DNA of armadillos from across this range, we have been able to perform a very detailed genomic analysis, making us very confident that there are actually four species.”

The armadillo found in the US, including Texas, is now promoted to the subspecies Dasypus novemcinctus mexicanus to a species of its own, Dasypus mexicanor the Mexican long-nosed armadillo.

The new species – found in a region of northeastern South America known as the Guiana Shield – was previously not a single subspecies and is now the newest species of armadillo, named the Guianan long-nosed armadillo, or Dasypus guianensis.

“With the new classification, the armadillo found in the United States should now be called the Mexican long-nosed armadillo,” said co-author Anderson Feijó, assistant curator of mammals at the Field Museum at the Negaunee Integrative Research Center in Chicago, in position. “The new species, the Guianan long-nosed armadillo, is the first armadillo described in the past 30 years.”

The four species all look very similar. Therefore, scientists had not yet discovered that they are genetically different from each other.

“They are almost impossible to distinguish in the field,” Delsuc said.

The discovery was made through DNA analysis and an in-depth study of the physical characteristics of the armadillos in their range.

“Museums were crucial to the study,” Feijó said. “Most of the specimens were collected before all of these DNA molecular techniques were available. So in addition to museum collections being valuable for the research that’s being done at the time a specimen is collected, it can be used in the future for things that we can’t even predict.”

Knowing that there are four different species can help researchers in their efforts to protect these species.

“Now that we know there are four different species, we can also expect that they have their own ecological requirements that may not be the same,” Feijó said. “Sometimes biologists bring individuals from one area to another to repopulate. Because they are different species, with potentially different needs, they will not be able to integrate.

“This discovery completely changes the way we think about the conservation of these species and the way we think about how endangered they are.”

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