''Phlyctaenopyga'' 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 ...

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 o ...

. It lived from the Late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

to the Early

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58South 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

Like all glyptodonts, this animal had a robust carapace, formed by

osteoderms Osteoderms are bony deposits forming scales, plates, or other structures based in the dermis. Osteoderms are found in many groups of Extant taxon, extant and extinct reptiles and amphibians, including lizards, crocodilians, frogs, Temnospondyli, ...

fused together, covering a large part of its body. ''Phlyctaenopyga'' was a medium-sized glyptodont, not exceeding two meters in length. Its carapace was made of osteoderms whose central figure was surrounded by two or three rows of peripheral figures ; the second row was complete only in a few osteoderms in ''Phlyctaenopyga ameghini'', while the third row was always incomplete. The central figure of the osteoderms was convex and protruding, almost hemispherical. The skull was very short and broad, especially in the snout area. The osteoderms covering the head were practically devoid of ornamentation.

Classification

The genus ''Phlyctaenopyga'' was first described in 1944 by Cabrera, for a species of Late Miocene glyptodont first ascribed to the genus ''

Plohophorus ''Plohophorus'' is an extinct genus of glyptodont. it lived from the Late Miocene to the Late Pliocene, and its fossilized remains were discovered in South America. Description Like all glyptodonts, this animal had a large carapace formed by n ...

'', ''P. ameghini''. Cabrera also attributed the species ''Nopachthus trouessarti'' to this genus, as ''Phlyctaenopyga trouessarti''. Those two species were mainly distinguished by details of their osteoderms. ''Phlyctaenopyga'' was a glyptodont, a clade of cingulates related to the 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, with a rigid carapace. ''Phlyctaenopyga'' seems to have been close to the genera '' Nopachthus'' and ''

'', within the tribe Sclerocalyptini.

Bibliography

*Moreno, F.P. 1888. Informe preliminar de los progresos del Museo La Plata durante el primer semestre de 1888 presentado al señor ministro de Obras Públicas de la provincia de Buenos Aires. Boletín del Museo La Plata. *Ameghino, F. 1889. Contribución al conocimiento de los mamíferos fósiles de la República Argentina. Actas Academia Nacional de Ciencias de Córdoba 6: 32 + 1028 y Atlas de 98 láms. *Cabrera, A. 1944. Los Gliptodontoideos del Araucaniano de Catamarca. Revista del Museo de La Plata (N. Serie), Paleontología 3: 5-76. *Zamorano, M.; Scillato-Yané G.; Gonzalez-Ruiz, L.R. & Zurita, A.E, (2011). Revisión de los géneros Nopachtus Ameghino y Phlyctaenopyga Cabrera (Xenarthra, Glyptodontidae, Hoplophorinae) del Mioceno tardío y Plioceno de Argentina. Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia", 13 (1): 59–68. {{Taxonbar, from=Q60977605 Prehistoric cingulates Prehistoric placental genera Miocene genus first appearances Miocene xenarthrans Miocene mammals of South America Miocene genus extinctions Pliocene xenarthrans Pliocene mammals of South America Pliocene genus extinctions Neogene Argentina Fossils of Argentina Fossil taxa described in 1944