Annual Diet of the Little Hairy Armadillo, Chaetophractus vellerosus (Mammalia, Dasypodidae), in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

Abstract

Analysis of the stomach contents of 28 little hairy armadillos (Chaetophractus vellerosus), collected during a 14-month period at Pipinas, Argentina, showed that about 63.6% of the weight of prey items was composed of animal remains, 18% was plant material, and the remaining 18.4% was undetermined organic remains. Insects were the most frequent diet item, followed by plant material, amphibians, reptiles, and lastly birds and mammals in similar proportion. During autumn, plant material was the most abundant item, followed by vertebrates and invertebrates. During winter invertebrates prevailed, followed by a lower percentage of vertebrates and scarce plant remains. Invertebrates also were predominant during spring, whereas plant material and vertebrates composed very low percentages.

Morphological characterization and sex-related differences of the mandible of the armadillos Chaetophractus vellerosus and Zaedyus pichiy (Xenarthra, Dasypodidae), with consideration of dietary aspects

“…Unfortunately, available studies on food preferences of these species (e.g. Greegor, 1980;Soibelzon et al, 2007;Superina et al, 2009) do not allow substantiating our results. However, some support in favour of this hypothesis may come from the comparison of the mandible of Z. pichiy with that of the long-nosed armadillos of the genus Dasypus, which have been also indicated as non-selective opportunistic feeders (Breece & Dusi, 1985) but with a strong component of insectivory (mainly myrmecophagy) (Talmage & Buchanan, 1954;Redford, 1985;Smith & Redford, 1990;da Silveira Anacleto, 2007;Abba & Cassini, 2010).…”

Summer diet of the pichi Zaedyus pichiy (Xenarthra: Dasypodidae) in Mendoza Province, Argentina

“…In the absence of similar studies on the diet of pichis, we will compare our results with the diet of two other carnivore-omnivore armadillos, the screaming hairy armadillo Chaetophractus vellerosus (Greegor, 1980;Soibelzon et al, 2007) and the yellow armadillo Euphractus sexcinctus (Dalponte and Tavares-Filho, 2004), although the methods used by these authors differ from ours.…”

Use of Chromatography in Animal Ecology

“…Xenarthra species are omnivores and carnivores-omnivores [51], including invertebrates, small vertebrates, carrion, plant roots, tubers and seeds in their diets [52][53][54][55]. During plate running, other colour bands were observed; they corresponded to plant pigments which were yellow or orange for captive animals and green for wild ones.…”