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Pampathere
Pampatheriidae ("Pampas beasts") is an extinct family of large cingulates related to armadillos. They first appeared in South America during the mid-Miocene, and '' Holmesina'' and '' Pampatherium'' spread to North America during the Pleistocene after the formation of the Isthmus of Panama as part of the Great American Interchange. They became extinct as part of the end-Pleistocene extinction event, about 12,000 years ago. Taxonomy The placement of the Eocene genus '' Machlydotherium'' in the family is considered doubtful. The oldest undoubted member of the group is '' Scirrotherium'' from La Venta, Colombia, dating to the mid-Miocene. Analysis of ear morphology suggests that they are most closely related to the much larger glyptodonts, which genetic evidence indicates is nested with modern armadillos as part of the family Chlamyphoridae, which by extension also places pampatheres within this group. Phylogeny after Tambusso et al. (2021): Description Pampatheres are bel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Machlydotherium
''Machlydotherium'' is an extinct genus of Cingulata, cingulate of uncertain systematic affinities, perhaps belonging to the Pampatheriidae. It lived from the Middle Eocene to the Early Oligocene, and its fossilized remains were found in South America. Description This animal is only known from isolated osteoderms, who were large and thick, quite similar to those of the later pampatheres. Some of these osteoderms, belonging to the fixed carapace typical of many cingulates, show the start of the differentiation of secondary figures, and large central follicles. The mobile osteoderms were distinguished from those of pampatheres by a little differentiated and rough surface. A bilobed tooth, similar to those of pampatheres, but whose abrasion surface draw a cusp in the anterior section, has also been attributed to the genus ''Machlydotherium''. Classification The genus ''Machlydotherium'' was first described in 1902 by Florentino Ameghino, the name itself being an anagram of ''Chl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holmesina
''Holmesina'' is an extinct genus of pampathere, a group of armadillo-like xenarthrans that were distantly related to extant armadillos. Like armadillos, and unlike the other extinct branch of megafaunal cingulates the glyptodonts, the shell was made up of flexible plates which allowed the animal to move more easily. ''Holmesina'' individuals were much larger than any modern armadillo: They could reach a length of , and a weight of , while the modern giant armadillo does not attain more than . Distribution They traveled north during the faunal interchange, and adapted well to North America, like the ground sloths, glyptodonts, armadillos, capybaras, and other South American immigrants. During the Late Pleistocene, ''Holmesina'' dispersed from North America back into South America, as evidenced by the morphological similarity of Late Pleistocene species in South America. Their fossils are found from Brazil to the United States, mostly in Texas and Florida. Diet ''Holme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vassallia
''Vassallia'' is an extinct genus of cingulate belonging to the family Pampatheriidae. It lived between the Middle Oligocene and the Early Pliocene in what is now South America. Description This animal must have been very similar in shape and size to today's giant armadillo ('' Priodontes maximus''); it is likely that the largest species of ''Vassallia maxima'' could have exceeded one meter in length. Like all pampatheres, ''Vassallia'' was also equipped with an armor consisting of osteoderms articulated with each other to form two rigid structures, one anterior and one posterior, and a few bands of movable osteoderms that allowed partial movement of the back. ''Vassallia'' was very similar to another pampathere, '' Kraglievichia'' from which it differed mainly in some dental features (the teeth had a somewhat simpler structure) and bony plates, which had a main figure with a slightly elevated central area. A study carried out on the dentition and morphology of jaw and mandib ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great American Interchange
The Great American Biotic Interchange (commonly abbreviated as GABI), also known as the Great American Interchange and the Great American Faunal Interchange, was an important late Cenozoic paleozoogeographic biotic interchange event in which land and freshwater fauna (animals), fauna migrated from North America to South America via Central America and vice versa, as the volcanic Isthmus of Panama rose up from the sea floor, forming a land bridge between the previously separated continents. Although earlier dispersals had occurred, probably over water, the migration accelerated dramatically about 2.7 million years (Ma (unit), Ma) ago during the Piacenzian age. It resulted from the joining of the Neotropical realm, Neotropic (roughly South American) and Nearctic realm, Nearctic (roughly North American) biogeographic realms definitively to form the Americas. The interchange is visible from observation of both biostratigraphy and nature (neontology). Its most dramatic effect is on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glyptodont
Glyptodonts are an extinct clade of large, heavily armoured armadillos, reaching up to in height, and maximum body masses of around 2 tonnes. They had short, deep skulls, a fused vertebral column, and a large bony carapace made up of hundreds of individual scutes. Some glyptodonts had Tail club, clubbed tails, similar to Ankylosauridae, ankylosaurid dinosaurs. The earliest widely recognised fossils of glyptodonts in South America are known from the late Eocene, around 38 million years ago, and they spread to southern North America after the continents became connected around 2.7 million years ago. The best-known genus within the group is ''Glyptodon.'' Glyptodonts were historically considered to constitute the distinct family Glyptodontidae, with their relationships to modern armadillos being contested. In 2016, an analysis of the mitochondrial genome of ''Doedicurus'' found that it was, in fact, nested within the modern armadillos as the sister group of a clade consisting of C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 distinguished by the number of bands on their armor. All species are native to the Americas, where they inhabit a variety of environments. Living armadillos are characterized by a leathery armour (anatomy), armor shell and long, sharp claws for digging. They have short legs, but can move quite quickly. The average length of an armadillo is about , including its tail. The giant armadillo grows up to and weighs up to , while the pink fairy armadillo has a length of only . When threatened by a predator, ''Tolypeutes'' species frequently roll up into a ball; they are the only species of armadillo capable of this. Recent genetic research has shown that the megafaunal glyptodonts (up to tall with maximum body masses of around 2 tonnes), which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kraglievichia
''Kraglievichia'' is an extinct genus of cingulate belonging to the family Pampatheriidae. It lived from the Late Miocene to the Early Pliocene, and its fossilized remains were discovered in South America. Description ''Kraglievichia'' looked like an enormous armadillo, with body dimensions comparable or larger than the modern giant armadillo; its skull was 18 centimeters long. Though all pampatheres had semi-flexible segmented shells, the structure of the armor forbade them to curl up like modern armadillos can. Currently, ''K. paranense'' is known from several osteoderms, a left femur, and a well-preserved skull without teeth. ''K. carinatum'' is known only from osteoderms. The osteoderms of its carapace are distinctively ornamented with an elevated axial area underlined by two lateral longitudinal depressions. Classification The genus ''Kraglievichia'' was established in 1927 by Castellanos for a species of fossil cingulate first described in 1883 by Florentino Ameghino as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scirrotherium
''Scirrotherium'' is an extinct genus of pampatheres, a family of herbivorous cingulates, related to the similar but smaller modern armadillos, and with the now extinct glyptodonts, well-known from their shell-like armor. Its scientific name is derived from the Greek prefix "''skiros-''", "cover", and the suffix "-''therion'', "beast", while the name of the type species, ''hondaensis'', honors the town of Honda, in the Tolima Department of Colombia.G. Edmund and J. Theodor, 1997. A new giant pampatheriid armadillo. In: Kay RF, Madden RH, Cifelli RL, Flynn JJ, eds. Vertebrate paleontology in the Neotropics. The Miocene fauna of La Venta, Colombia, pp. 227–232. Washington, D.C: Smithsonian Institution Press.Engelmann, G.F. ''Scirrotherium'' is one of several genera of xenarthrans found in the La Venta fauna, dated from the Middle Miocene. Description ''Scirrotherium'' is only known from an incomplete skull preserving teeth, a fragmentary mandible, postcranial vertebrae, and par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cingulata
Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra, is an order of armored New World placental mammals. The armadillos, whose species are split between the families Dasypodidae and Chlamyphoridae, are the only surviving members of the order. Two groups of cingulates much larger than extant armadillos (maximum body mass of 45 kg (100 lb) in the case of the giant armadillo) existed until recently: pampatheriids, which reached weights of up to 200 kg (440 lb) and chlamyphorid glyptodonts, which attained masses of 2,000 kg (4,400 lb) or more. The cingulate order originated in South America during the Paleocene epoch about 66 to 56 million years ago, and due to the continent's former isolation remained confined to it during most of the Cenozoic. However, the formation of a land bridge allowed members of all three families to migrate to southern North America during the Pliocene or early Pleistocene as part of the Great American Interchange. After surviving f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pampatherium
''Pampatherium'' is an extinct genus of xenarthran that lived in the Americas during the Pleistocene. Some species went extinct right at the Pleistocene-Holocene border. Taxonomy Pampatherium was one of the first fossil mammals reported from South America, with Peter Wilhelm Lund initially describing the genus as ''Chlamytherium'' in 1839 (then as ''Chlamydotherium'' in 1841). Florentino Ameghino erected the genus ''Pampatherium'' in 1875. Distribution ''Pampatherium humboldtii'' and ''P. typum'' lived in South America (mostly Brazil) during the Pleistocene, with ''P. humboldtii'' surviving into the very Late Pleistocene. ''Pampatherium mexicanum'' was the only North American species, reaching as far north as Sonora, Mexico. It lived during the Rancholabrean. Description ''Pampatherium'' resembled a very large armadillo. One species, ''P. humboldtii'', weighed up to . Pampatheres generally resembled armadillos, particularly in the shape of it skull, long snout, and the presen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
