''Punatherium'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of xenarthran, belonging to the family

Dasypodidae Dasypodidae, from Ancient Greek δασύς (''dasús''), meaning "hair", and πούς (''poús''), meaning "foot", is a family of mostly extinct genera of armadillos. One genus, ''Dasypus'', is extant, with at least seven living species. __TO ...

. It lived during the Late

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

, and its fossilized remains were discovered in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Description

This animal, probably quite similar to modern

armadillo Armadillos () are New World placental mammals in the order (biology), order Cingulata. They form part of the superorder Xenarthra, along with the anteaters and sloths. 21 extant species of armadillo have been described, some of which are dis ...

s, is only known from a few

osteoderm Osteoderms are bony deposits forming scales, plates, or other structures based in the dermis. Osteoderms are found in many groups of extant and extinct reptiles and amphibians, including lizards, crocodilians, frogs, temnospondyls (extinct amph ...

s. It was probably a medium sized armadillo, comparable to the

big hairy armadillo The big (or large) hairy armadillo (''Chaetophractus villosus'') is one of the largest and most numerous armadillos in South America. It lives from sea level to altitudes of up to 1,300 meters across the southern portion of South America, and ca ...

in size. It is characterized by a pelvic region equipped with a rigid shield of osteoderms fused together, themselves endowed of a main figure anteriorly circumscribed by three large foramina. Other large foramina were present, located in the lateral and posterior margins. They formed four peripheral figures, all anteriorly disposed. The contact margins between the osteoderms had several low and blunt protuberances. The semi-mobile osteoderms, probably situated in the back and flanks, show a lageniform main figure, surrounded by six large perforations, except in the posterior area.

Classification

''Punatherium catamarcensis'' was first described in 2016, based on fossil remains found in Middle-Late Eocene terrains from the

Catamarca Province Catamarca () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The province had a population of 429,556 as per the , and covers an area of 102,602 km2. Its literacy rate is 95.5%. Neighbouring provinces are (clockwise, f ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. ''Punatherium'' was a member of the family

, which includes the modern

nine-banded armadillo The nine-banded armadillo (''Dasypus novemcinctus''), also called the nine-banded long-nosed armadillo or common long-nosed armadillo, is a species of armadillo native to North America, North, Central America, Central, and South America, making ...

Bibliography

*Ciancio, M.R., Herrera, C., Aramayo, A., Payrola, P., and Babot, J. 2016. Diversity of cingulate xenarthrans in the middle–late Eocene of Northwestern Argentina. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 61 (3): 575–590. {{Taxonbar, from=Q110461627 Prehistoric cingulates Prehistoric placental genera Eocene xenarthrans Eocene genus first appearances Eocene mammals of South America Eocene genus extinctions Paleogene Argentina Fossils of Argentina Fossil taxa described in 2016