Priodontes maximus (Kerr, 1792)

Voss, Robert S. & Fleck, David W., 2017, Mammalian Diversity And Matses Ethnomammalogy In Amazonian Peru Part 2: Xenarthra, Carnivora, Perissodactyla, Artiodactyla, And Sirenia, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2017 (417), pp. 1-1 : 1-

Priodontes maximus (Kerr, 1792)

Figure 3D

VOUCHER MATERIAL (TOTAL = 1): Nuevo San Juan (MUSM 11091).

OTHER INTERFLUVIAL RECORDS: Nuevo San Juan (camera-trap photograph), Río Yavarí-Mirím (Salovaara et al., 2003), San Pedro (Valqui, 1999).

IDENTIFICATION: Adult giant armadillos cannot be confused with any other mammal, although juveniles might be mistaken for Cabassous unicinctus , which they superficially resemble. Our single voucher, of which only the skull is preserved, is a young adult male with a completely co-ossified occiput but unfused preoccipital sutures.

The only traits in which our specimen differs from the diagnosis of Priodontes maximus provided by Wetzel (1985b: 31) concerns the dentition, which he reports as consisting of “18/19 pairs [of teeth], which are very flattened transversely.” In MUSM 11091, by contrast, there are alveoli for only 16 upper teeth (T) on the left side, of which the first (T1) seems to have been a tiny cylindrical peg; T2–T10 are sharp, flat blades; and T11–T16 are worn, peglike elements. There are alveoli for 17 upper teeth on the right side of this specimen, of which T1 and T17 are

missing but were obviously tiny pegs; T2–T10 are sharp, flat blades like their counterparts on the left side; and T11–T16 are worn and peglike. Therefore, the symmetrical dental complement of this specimen includes 16 paired teeth, of which only nine on each side conform to the flattened morphology described by Wetzel.

ETHNOBIOLOGY: The principal name for the giant armadillo is tsawesamë, a term that can be analyzed as a compound of tsawes (“armadillo”) and amë (“father” or “large”). The archaic synonym is panu, the pan-Panoan term for “giant armadillo.” No subtypes are recognized by the Matses.

The giant armadillo is not eaten or killed by the Matses, and it is of no economic importance. However, members of the Mayú tribe (whom the Matses exterminated and from whom they captured many women) formerly ate giant armadillos.

The Matses believe that it is a death omen to encounter a giant armadillo as it is foraging during the day, or to find giant armadillo diggings in a swidden; such omens are interpreted to mean that someone (other than the observer) will soon die. Additionally, if one steps on dirt that an armadillo has dug up, one may become weak and thin. If a hunter sees or touches a giant armadillo, his children may fall ill. To cure the child’s illness, a medicine man will try several different medicinal plants, some of which are specific to contagion by giant armadillos and others are general for contagion caused by any type of armadillo. A baby that suffers from giant armadillo sickness will dig its nails into its mother’s flesh, and it may die from this condition.

MATSES NATURAL HISTORY: The giant armadillo is similar to other armadillos, but it is huge. It has very large claws on its front feet, like spoons. It bends its claws inward when it walks. The tracks of its hind feet look like the footprints of a (small) tapir. It has a large head similar to that of an armadillo. It has a very hard carapace. Its carapace has round bumps on the neck portion. It has less distinct bands and has lightly haired undersides.

Giant armadillos prefer primary upland forest, especially the area of headwater gullies, but their tracks can also be found in floodplain forest. (Not every Matses has seen one, though their diggings and tracks are commonly encountered.)

They make many very large holes. They do not make dens with leaf nests, but simply sleep in the large holes they have dug, usually in a stream headwater gully. They may fix up an old hole to sleep in for a night.

The giant armadillo is almost exclusively nocturnal. It does not make or use paths, although it may follow the same route occasionally. It travels far, visiting different streams. When it forages, it digs large holes, toppling saplings and removing roots. It leaves behind large piles of dirt and clay where it forages. It also forages by digging into rotten logs and at the base of swamp palms ( Mauritia flexuosa [ Arecaceae ]), where there is black soil. Giant armadillos escape by digging into the ground, so that they are difficult to kill with a club.

Giant armadillos are solitary.

There are many white flies (probably phlebotomine psychodids) in the holes where a giant armadillo has slept.

The giant armadillo grunts when one touches it with a stick when it is in its burrow.

The giant armadillo roots in the ground to eat earthworms and grubs that live in the ground. It digs up rotten logs and stumps to eat armored millipedes ( Barydesmus sp. [ Platyrhacidae ]) and termite larvae. It digs up termite nests to eat the larvae. It digs out beehives in hollow trees to eat their larvae and drink their honey. It digs out the pith of fallen rotting swamp-palms to eat beetle grubs. It takes apart the crowns of fallen isan palms ( Oenocarpus bataua [ Arecaceae ]) to eat the beetle grubs that eat the heart of the palm. Giant armadillos eat isan palm fruits and swamp palm fruits, chewing up the whole fruit, including the seed.

REMARKS: Matses observations about this species are not very extensive—understandably so, since giant armadillos are not hunted for food and are seldom encountered while active at night—but they include some information that does not appear in the scientific literature (reviewed by Carter et al., 2016), notably about foraging behavior and diet. By comparison with Matses accounts of sympatric dasypodid armadillos (see below), their remarks that Priodontes maximus does not follow paths or make leaf nests seem noteworthy.

Figures

FIG. 3. Crania of four armadillo species that occur in the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluve, illustrating taxonomic differences in size and shape: Dasypus novemcinctus (A, AMNH 268229); D. pastasae (B, AMNH 268228); Cabassous unicinctus (C, AMNH 74113); Priodontes maximus (D, AMNH 93418). All illustrated specimens are adults, but AMNH 93418 is not from the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluve.