The nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) is an armadillo widely distributed from Central and South America to the southern United States. It adapts to a variety of habitats such as forests and grasslands, using its keen sense of smell to locate and primarily feed on soil-dwelling insects. Its carapace is covered by 7–11 bands, and it has a distinctive reproductive pattern of giving birth to quadruplets at once and delayed implantation. It is nocturnal and maintains multiple burrows as living sites. Although it is hunted or otherwise utilized in some regions, the IUCN lists it as Least Concern.