Neuryurus

''Neuryurus'' is an extinct genus of glyptodont. It lived from the Late Pliocene, and its fossilized remains were discovered in South America.

Description

This genus, like all glyptodonts, had a heavy armor formed by osteoderms fused together, protecting most of its body. ''Neuryurus'' was large-sized, reaching three meters in length. The carapace resembled that of other glyptodonts such as ''Trachycalyptus'', with thick and rectangular-shaped osteoderms, loosely fused by a serrated suture. The outer surface of those osteoderms was evenly dotted. The tail was protected by a caudal tube ; this structure, in ''Neuryurus'', was depressed, not consolidated and mostly formed by osteoderms similar to each others. The lateral osteoderms had large elliptical structures, with a central conical prominence, reminding those of '' Hoplophorus'' and '' Panochthus''. Some marginal plates had an elevated and conical central area. The cephalic shield resembled that of ''Panochthus'', due to the presence of slightly marked peripheral tubercles.

Classification

The genus ''Neuryurus'' was first established in 1889 by Florentino Ameghino, replacing the name ''Euryurus'' that Ameghino and Paul Gervais had described a few years earlier but already used by a genus of millipedes. ''Neuryurus'' is mostly known from its type species, ''Neuryurus rudis'', typical of the Early and Middle Pleistocene deposits of Argentina. Fossils attributed to the genus, but not to the type species, are known from Argentine terrains dating from the Late Pliocene. The most recent fossils date from the Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene, and have been found in Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina. Two other species, '' N. interundatus'' and ''N. giganteus'', have also been attributed to the genus.

''Neuryurus'' is an unusual genus within the glytodonts ; the peculiar morphology of its caudal tube distinguishes it from all other genera of glyptodonts, even if it is supposed to be related to the tribe Hoplophorini. It may have been similar to the genus ''Panochthus'', but its closest relative seems to have been '' Urotherium''.

Bibliography

*F. Ameghino. 1889. Contribución al conocimiento de los mamíferos fósiles de la República Argentina ontribution to the knowledge of the fossil mammals of the Argentine Republic Actas de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias de la República Argentina en Córdoba 6:xxxii-1027
*Zurita, A. E., Soibelzon, E. & Carlini, A. A. 2006. Neuryurus (Xenarthra, Glyptodontidae) in the Lujanian (late Pleistocene–early Holocene) of the pampean region. Neues Jahrbuch fu¨r Geologie und Palaontologie-Monatshefte 2, 78–88.
*Zurita, A. E. & Ferrero, B. S. 2007. Neuryurus Ameghino (Mammalia, Glyptodontidae) en el Lujanense (Pleistoceno tardı´o) en la Mesopotamia de Argentina: su registro en un a´ mbito paleobiogeografico particular. Resu´menes Reunion Anual deComunicaciones de la Asociacion Paleontologica Argentina, Corrientes, Argentina, 19.
*Zurita, A. E. & Ferrero, B. S. 2009. A new species of Neuryurus Ameghino (Mammalia, Glyptodontidae) from the late Pleistocene of the Mesopotamic region of Argentina. Geobios, Volume 42, Issue 5, Pages 663–673.
*Zurita, A. E., Soibelzon, E., Scillato-Yané, G. J. and Cenizo, M. 2009. The earliest record of Neuryurus Ameghino (Mammalia, Glyptodontidae, Hoplophorinae). Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology,33:1,49 — 57
*Perea, D., P. Toriño, and M. Ghizzoni. 2019. First endoskeletal remains of Neuryurus (Xenarthra, Glyptodontidae), an emended diagnosis of the genus, and body mass estimations. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2019.1668400.

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21214535

Prehistoric cingulates
Prehistoric placental genera
Piacenzian first appearances
Pliocene xenarthrans
Pleistocene xenarthrans
Pliocene mammals of South America
Pleistocene mammals of South America
Quaternary mammals of South America
Holocene extinctions
Neogene Argentina
Fossils of Argentina
Uquian
Ensenadan
Lujanian
Fossil taxa described in 1889