THE 



AMERICAN NATURALIST 



Vol. XLVII September, 1913 No. 561 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE NINE- 

 BANDED ARMADILLO OF TEXAS 



PROFESSOR H. H. NEWMAN 

 The University of Chicago 

 For some years past the writer has been engaged in a 

 study of various phases of the biology of the Texas 

 armadillo and has published a number of papers, some 

 of them in collaboration with J. T. Patterson and some of 

 them alone, dealing with matters of development, cytol- 

 ogy, sex and heredity. There now appears to be a 

 demand for a brief, non-technical summary, giving the 

 gist of the findings discussed in detail in these papers. 

 The present account will furnish such a summary and 

 will in addition deal with certain matters not yet 

 published. 



Nomenclature and Affinities 

 In the publications thus far issued the armadillo of 

 Texas has been referred to under various generic titles 

 (Dasypus, Tatusia and Tatu) and it would be well to 

 come to a final decision as to nomenclature. The system- 

 atists seem to have finally settled upon the name Dasypus 

 novemcinctus texanus. They recognize two other sub- 

 species of this form in North America, viz., D. novem- 

 cinctus fenestrates, the common Mexican armadillo, and 

 D. novemcinctus hoplites, a type described by Allen from 

 the hills of Grenada. These three subspecies are prob- 

 ably no more than local varieties of which many others 

 could no doubt be discovered were one inclined to make 

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