3.1 Study site

The compilation of the Xenarthrans database came from 22 countries. The five countries that contributed the most with data are listed on the Table 3.1.

Table 3.1: Countries that contributed the most with Xenarthrans data.

Country	Flag	Ocurrence	Frequency
Brazil		27,153	68.0%
Argentina		6,006	15.0%
Bolivia		2,495	6.2%
Mexico		1,384	3.5%
Uruguay		663	1.7%

4.1 Explanatory data

Considering the Xenarthrans database, we can see a total of 39.943 occurrences. Observations that did not achieve precise specie identification were not considered in the analysis. Therefore, the total occurrence data was 38.253. The 2 existing orders were observed with a total of 5 families. The armadillos families were the most observed (Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae). In Figure 4.1 you can verify the number of occurrence by hovering over the column chart below.

The species with the highest number of records were the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), with 10,340 occurrences (27.0%) (Table 4.1). The second species most visualized was the six-banded armadillo (Euphractus sexcinctus). Both species belong to Cingulata Order. The giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus), also between the most recorded species (4.0%), is the largest of all extant armadillo species (Trujillo and Superina 2013).

The database showed that Brazil is the country with the highest richness, presenting 20 different species of Xenarthrans, listed in Table 4.2. Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Colombia are also countries that showed elevated richness of species.

Table 4.2: Table 3. Countries with the highest richness of species.

Country	Flag	Richness	Species
Brazil		20	Bradypus torquatus, Bradypus tridactylus, Bradypus variegatus, Cabassous tatouay, Cabassous unicinctus, Choloepus didactylus, Choloepus hoffmanni, Dasypus beniensis, Dasypus kappleri, Dasypus novemcinctus, Dasypus pastasae, Dasypus septemcinctus hybridus, Dasypus septemcinctus septemcinctus, Euphractus sexcinctus, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, Priodontes maximus, Tamandua tetradactyla, Tolypeutes matacus, Tolypeutes tricinctus, Zaedyus pichiy
Argentina		16	Cabassous chacoensis, Cabassous tatouay, Calyptophractus retusus, Chaetophractus vellerosus, Chaetophractus villosus, Chlamyphorus truncatus, Dasypus mazzai, Dasypus novemcinctus, Dasypus septemcinctus hybridus, Dasypus septemcinctus septemcinctus, Euphractus sexcinctus, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, Priodontes maximus, Tamandua tetradactyla, Tolypeutes matacus, Zaedyus pichiy
Bolivia		14	Bradypus variegatus, Cabassous unicinctus, Calyptophractus retusus, Chaetophractus vellerosus, Chaetophractus villosus, Choloepus hoffmanni, Dasypus beniensis, Dasypus novemcinctus, Dasypus septemcinctus septemcinctus, Euphractus sexcinctus, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, Priodontes maximus, Tamandua tetradactyla, Tolypeutes matacus
Paraguay		13	Cabassous chacoensis, Cabassous tatouay, Cabassous unicinctus, Calyptophractus retusus, Chaetophractus vellerosus, Chaetophractus villosus, Dasypus novemcinctus, Dasypus septemcinctus septemcinctus, Euphractus sexcinctus, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, Priodontes maximus, Tamandua tetradactyla, Tolypeutes matacus
Colombia		11	Bradypus variegatus, Cabassous centralis, Cabassous unicinctus, Choloepus didactylus, Choloepus hoffmanni, Dasypus novemcinctus, Dasypus pastasae, Dasypus sabanicola, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, Tamandua mexicana, Tamandua tetradactyla

4.2 Endemic species

Endemic species are those that exist only in one geographic region and do not occur naturally in any other part of the world. Species can be endemic to large or small areas of the earth, for example, an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone. Within the database, we can see some endemic species and the country of occurrence (Table 4.3. In Argentina, there are two endemic armadillos species (Chlamyphorus truncatus and Dasypus mazzai). One sloth (Bradypus torquatus) and one armadillo occur only in Brazil and one sloth (Bradypus pygmaeus) is endemic to Panama. The endemism information was verified and the cited species are in fact endemic to that countries (IUCN - International Union for Conservation of Nature 2021).

Table 4.3: Endemic species.

Species	Country	Flag
Chlamyphorus truncatus	Argentina
Dasypus mazzai	Argentina
Bradypus torquatus	Brazil
Tolypeutes tricinctus	Brazil
Bradypus pygmaeus	Panama

4.3 Endangered species

Convertion of habitats into cropland and pastures and hunting are the main threats to Xenarthras. There is one specie that is considered as “Critically endangered” (Bradypus pygmaeus), and four species classified as “Vulnerable”, as we can see in Figure 4.2.

Figure 4.2: Threat status of Xenarthras species

4.4 Temperature x Rainfall

To verify if the mean annual temperature and accumulated rainfall influence the occurrence of the species, the data were organized by suborder, sorting out sloths from anteaters and by order of armadillos.

4.4.1 Suborder Folivora

The suborder Folivora is represented by sloths. The scatter plot shows that the species Bradypus torquatus and B. variegatus occur in areas with greater variation in temperature and rainfall while B. tridactylus, Choloepus didactylus and C. hoffmanni occur in warmer temperatures (Figure 4.3).

Figure 4.3: Ocurrence of Folivora species according with the mean annual temperature and accumulated rainfall

4.4.2 Suborder Vermilingua

The suborder Folivora is represented by anteaters. Both species of anteater observed on database are more flexible about the rainfall, occurring in areas with variation on the accumulated rainfall and temperature (Figure 4.4).

Figure 4.4: Ocurrence of Vermilingua species according with the mean annual temperature and accumulated rainfall

4.4.3 Order Cingulata

The Order Cingulata is represented by armadillos. We can observe that most species are more flexible regarding the temperature and rainfall variation. Although it is noted that some species are specially restricted (Figure 4.5).

Figure 4.5: Ocurrence of Cingulata species according with the mean annual temperature and accumulated rainfall