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This story is part of The State of Science, a series featuring science stories from public media journalists across the United States. It features reporting by Giselle Rhoden from Louisville Public Media.
Armadillos have been crawling up the southern U.S. as the climate warms, making themselves at home as far north as Kentucky and Indiana. They’re what wildlife biologists call a “signal species,” one whose presence or absence tell us something about how an ecosystem is changing.
Host Flora Lichtman speaks with journalist Giselle Rhoden and biogeographer Anderson Feijó to understand why armadillos are moving north and what other wacky activities they may be up to.
Further Reading
- Cute but not so cuddly, armadillos are making their way north
- The Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom Presents: Calls from the Wild
- Rewriting the armadillo family tree: a new species, plus a name change for the state mammal of Texas
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Segment Guests
Giselle Rhoden
Giselle Rhoden is a reporter at Louisville Public Media in Louisville, Kentucky.
Anderson Feijó
Dr. Anderson Feijó is the assistant curator of mammals at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois.
Segment Transcript
The transcript is being processed. It will be available 2-3 days after this story’s publication date.
Meet the Producers and Host
About Flora Lichtman
Flora Lichtman is a host of Science Friday. In a previous life, she lived on a research ship where apertivi were served on the top deck, hoisted there via pulley by the ship’s chef.
About Imaan Moin
Imaan Moin is an associate producer for Science Friday. She particularly enjoys super-small science stories (especially about microbes and biomolecules), but she’s always up for talking about Texas and how everything is bigger there.