Nine-banded Armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus 
(Mammalia: Edentata), in South Carolina: Additional 
Records and Reevaluation of Status 
Steven G. Platt 
Department of Biological Sciences 
132 Long Hall, Clemson University 
Clemson, South Carolina 29634-1903 
AND 
William E. Snyder 
Center for Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, and 
Department of Entomology 
S-255 Agricultural Science Building 
University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40546-0091 
ABSTRACT — The nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus 
Linnaeus) has been undergoing range expansion and is now estab- 
lished throughout much of the southeastern United States. Previ- 
ous records for South Carolina are widely scattered, and no evi- 
dence of an established population has been reported. We present 
an additional museum record, not previously reported, and field obser- 
vations of living and road-killed animals that strongly suggest a 
population of armadillos is established in southwestern South Carolina. 
This range extension into South Carolina probably occurred within 
the past ten years. Henceforth, the nine-banded armadillo should 
be considered an established member of South Carolina’s mammalian 
fauna. 
The nine-banded armadillo has been undergoing a natural expansion 
into the southeastern United States over the past 100 years. This expansion 
began when animals moved into Texas from northern Mexico in the 
mid-1800’s, perhaps in response to changing land use practices. By 
1954 armadillos had reached the Mississippi River, and by 1972 were 
in the western Florida panhandle. Armadillos were also introduced 
into peninsular Florida between 1920 and 1936, and the two subpopulations 
merged in the mid-1970’s (Talmage and Buchanan 1954, Humphrey 
1974). This species is now established in eight states (Texas, Oklahoma, 
Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia), and 
is expected to continue to move northward and eastward until limited 
by low winter temperatures (Humphrey 1974). 
Brimleyana 23:89-93, December 1995 
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