NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Pichi
Zaedyus pichiy (Desmarest, 1804)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Exhibit in the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Via Brigata Liguria, 9, 16121, Genoa, Italy. Photography was permitted in the museum without restriction.
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Open encyclopedia reference
The pichi (Zaedyus pichiy), dwarf armadillo or pygmy armadillo is an armadillo native to Argentina and Chile. It is the only living member of the genus Zaedyus, and the only armadillo to hibernate. Fossil remains from the Cerro Azul Formation indicate this species had already evolved during the late Miocene epoch.
Wikipedia contributors, Pichi; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T01:20:07.148967+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Zaedyus pichiy (Desmarest, 1804)
- Name authority
- (Desmarest, 1804)
- Common name
- Pichi
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Cingulata
- Family
- Chlamyphoridae
- Genus
- Zaedyus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderCingulata Illiger, 1811
- familyChlamyphoridae Bonaparte, 1850
- subfamilyEuphractinae Winge, 1923
- genusZaedyus Ameghino, 1889
- speciesZaedyus pichiy (Desmarest, 1804)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Loricatus pichiy Desmarest, 1804 Desmarest, 1804 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=624907 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:7GC4H. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.