[3] It is found in parts of northern Argentina, southwestern Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia, at elevations from sea level to 770 m (2,530 ft).

The shell covering its body is armored and the outer layer is made out of keratin, the same protein that builds human fingernails.

They are among the smaller armadillos, with a head-and-body length of about 22 to 27 cm (8.7 to 10.6 in) and a weight between 1 and 1.6 kg (2.2 and 3.5 lb).

[4] The three-banded armadillo has a long, sticky, straw-like pink tongue that allows it to gather up and eat many different species of insects, typically ants and termites.

The species is threatened by habitat destruction from conversion of its native Dry Chaco to farmland, and from hunting for food and the pet trade.