Chaetophractus
Encyclopedia
Chaetophractus is a small genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of armadillo
Armadillo
Armadillos are New World placental mammals, known for having a leathery armor shell. Dasypodidae is the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one"...

s in the Dasypodidae family. It contains the following three species:
  • Screaming Hairy Armadillo
    Screaming Hairy Armadillo
    The Screaming Hairy Armadillo is a species of armadillo also known as the Small Screaming Armadillo, Crying Armadillo or the Small Hairy Armadillo. It is a burrowing armadillo found in the central and southern parts of South America...

    , Chaetophractus vellerosus
  • Big Hairy Armadillo
    Big Hairy Armadillo
    Chaetophractus villosus, commonly called the Big Hairy Armadillo is one of the largest and most numerous armadillos in South America. It lives from sea level to altitudes of up to 1,300 meters across the southern portion of South America and can be found in grasslands, forests, savannahs, and has...

    , Chaetophractus villosus
  • Andean Hairy Armadillo
    Andean Hairy Armadillo
    The Andean Hairy Armadillo is an armadillo present in Bolivia, in the region of the Puna, the departments of Oruro, La Paz, and Cochabamba . Nowark describes it as distributed in Bolivia and northern Chile. A recent publication of Pacheco et al. also locates the species in Peru...

    , Chaetophractus nationi


Members of the genus are endemic to the continent of South America. They are found in the central and southern countries such as Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

, and Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

.
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