Mexican long-nosed armadillo loping across a field (photo from Wikimedia)

23 September 2026

Three years ago, in April 2023, I wrote that Armadillos Are On Their Way to Pennsylvania. Since arriving in Texas in 1849 they’ve expanded their range north and east in the U.S. nearly ten times faster than the average rate expected for a mammal. In 2023 they were two states away in Indiana. Not anymore! The first documented naturally occurring armadillo was found as roadkill near Oxford, Ohio.

Note that armadillo articles older than 2024 call it the “nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus)” but the species was split in June 2024. The “nine-banded” lives only in South America. Armadillos in Central and North America are officially the Mexican long-nosed armadillo (Dasypus mexicanus).

Mexican long-nosed armadillo approaching and sniffing someone’s shoe (photos from Wikimedia)

Their range map used to look like this: current in red, future is pink. I’ve marked Oxford, Ohio with a circled asterisk.

Map from Wikimedia updated with this news

This January 2025 USGS map of documented armadillo occurrences shows they’re in Iowa, a place that wasn’t even predicted!

Current Distribution of Nine-Banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) in United States (map from USGS study)

What about those dots in Ohio in Jan 2025? They’re believed to have been hitchhikers on vehicles.

This month’s first naturally occurring armadillo probably walked east from Indiana, based on their current range.

Read more about armadillo range expansion in this 2023 article (which I have to update to for the correct species name).

p.s. Armadillos don’t move west because they need moisture, forest and leaf litter to survive.