Burrow characteristics and habitat associations of armadillos in Brazil and the United States of America

We censused and measured armadillo burrows in ten 10 m x 40 m plots in each of four habitat types at a study site in northern Florida and one in the A tlantic coastal rainforest of Brazil. The nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus no vemcinctus) was the only species of armadillo found in Florida, but several additional species were present in Brazil. Burrows were more numerous but smaller in Brazil than in the U. S., probably due to the inclusion of burro ws dug by the smaller congener D. septemcinctus. In Brazil, burrows were la rger and more numerous in swamp and forest habitats than in grassland or di sturbed areas, suggesting that D. novemcinctus is found primarily in forest s and swamps while D. septemcinctus is located in the other areas. This was supported by data from sightings of live animals. In Florida, burrows were more numerous in hardwood hammocks than in wetlands, fields or upland pine areas, but burrow dimensions did not vary across habitat types. In Florida , armadillos were seen more frequently than expected in hammocks and wetlan ds and less frequently than expected in fields and upland pine areas. There were also age (juvenile versus adult), sex, and yearly differences in habi tat use in Florida. Biomass, abundance, and species diversity of terrestria l invertebrates did not vary significantly between habitat types in Florida , suggesting that habitat associations of armadillos were not influenced by prey availability.