Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 80 (3): 285-294, 2007
RESEARCH ARTICLE
A new introduced mammal in Tierra del Fuego: the “large hairy armadillo”
Chaetophractus villosus (Mammalia, Dasypodidae) in the Isla Grande island
Sixty-six percent of the mammal fauna of Tierra del Fuego consists of introduced species
with economical or sport hunting importance. The large hairy armadillo, Chaetophractus villosus, is distributed from the
Chaco of Bolivia and Paraguay to the South of Santa Cruz province in Argentina and was introduced to Isla Grande about 20 years ago.
Since the holes and subterranean excavations are the most conspicuous indications of activity of this species, we studied the density
and distribution of burrows made by C. villosus in the argentine side of Isla Grande island in order to estimate the relative
abundance of the population. We classified the burrows as “short tunnels”, for foraging activity and/or temporal shelter, and “long
tunnels”, used as dens or in a semi-permanent manner. We found that the armadillo can be considered an established species in an
area of approximately 484 km<sup>2</sup>. We show that the range of distribution of the species is tightly associated to the
underground oil pipes net, likely favored by the massive ground alterations due to the construction of subterranean nets of oil
distribution. Considering the geographical distribution reached by this species since its introduction to the island coping with the
environmental conditions, we propose that climate is not a determining factor for the distribution of C. villosus, but the
natural geographic barriers such as the Magellan’s Strait to the south and La Plata River to the east.
Key words:
introduced species,
Chaetophractus villosus, Tierra del Fuego, colonization, human impact
