Cabassous centralis occurs in dry, to moderately moist (mesic), deciduous and semi-deciduous forests, at forest edges in rocky terrain and in open habitats such as dry savanna (Reid 1997). It has also been recorded in tropical moist montane forests, as well as in the subparamo of the Colombian Central Andean highlands (Díaz-N. and Sánchez-Giraldo 2008, Turcios-Casco et al. 2022). It can be found in secondary forest habitat, and also tolerates a moderate mix of forest, agricultural land, semiurban areas (Marín et al. 2021), and buffer zones of protected areas (Turcios-Casco et al. 2022). It seems to prefer areas where prolonged periods of rain alternate with long drought periods (Chacón-Pacheco et al. 2021).

It is a solitary, insectivorous species, partly adapted to digging and life underground. No data are available about its spatial ecology or its reproductive strategy.

Cabassous centralis ranges from Chiapas state in Mexico, through Central America, to western Colombia, north-western Ecuador and north-western Venezuela (Chacón-Pacheco et al. 2021). It occurs from sea level to around 3,000 m Asl.

This armadillo species has been recorded from a number of protected areas, such as Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve, Mache-Chindul Ecological Reserve, Manglares Cayapas-Mataje Ecological Reserve and Bilsa Protected Forest in Ecuador. In Honduras it has been confirmed in Cerro Azul Meámbar National Park, Sierra Río Tinto National Park, Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, Montecillos Biological Reserve, and Misoco Biological Reserve (Turcios-Casco et al. 2022). It also occurs in Cocksomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary and Chiquibul Forest Reserve in Belize (Soriero et al. 2018) as well as in Sierra Zapote Reserve and La Catarata Reserve in Costa Rica (Marín et al. 2021), among others.

The species is listed as Data Deficient in Belize and Honduras (Wildlife Conservation Society 2021), Vulnerable in Ecuador, at Risk of Extinction in Mexico (SEMARNAT 2010), and Near Threatened in Colombia and Venezuela (Chacón-Pacheco et al. 2021).