Large hairy armadillo Chaetophractus villosus: the most recent mammal invader in the binational Tierra del Fuego Island

Abstract

I reviewed the history of knowledge on large hairy armadillo Chaetophractus villosus in Patagonia and its current presence in Tierra del Fuego Island, a southernmost geographic region in South America shared by Argentina and Chile. My aim was to highlight what is known of this recent invasion, to identify knowledge advances and gaps, and to propose some new avenues of inquiry. This review reveals that studies on large hairy armadillo have covered the following topics: (a) introduction, spread, current distribution, and the role of physical and/or ecological barriers; (b) genetic profiling, which is ongoing and highly promising research for determining founding effects and genetic bottlenecks in an expanding alien population; (c) life history—including habitat, food, and time use, reproduction, behavior, and population dynamics; (d) interactions with sympatric consumer species—be them as mutualists or competitors—and with food plants and arthropod prey; (e) interactions with predators; (f) interactions with humans—including hunting, commercialization, facilitation, and interference; (g) an eyesore is the lack of an ecosystem approach to this invading species, because the large hairy armadillo may be deemed an ecosystem engineer, which profoundly alters its habitat and prey base and has close ties to human endeavors.