''Scirrotherium'' 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 ...

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 Pleistocen ...

s, a family of

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...

cingulate 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 ...

s, related to the similar but smaller 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, and with the now extinct

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 ...

s, 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 commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

, in the

Tolima Department Tolima () is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the Andean region, in the center-west of the country. It is bordered on the north and the west by the department of Caldas; on the east by the department of Cundinamarca; on the ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

.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 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 ...

Description

''Scirrotherium'' is only known from an incomplete skull preserving teeth, a fragmentary mandible, postcranial vertebrae, and parts of its

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 ...

armor. These remains were smaller than in its relative ''

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 li ...

'', and larger than those of ''

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 an ...

''. ''Scirrotherium'' was characterized by its cylindrical molars, a bilobed eighth lower molar, and by the presence in the third thoracic vertebra of a disc-shaped surface, conjectured to have had a little mobility. In ''Scirrotherium hondaensis'', the mobile osteoderms presented in the sculpted area foramina aligned in two rows, with marked lateral edges, and a short, rounded and narrow axial elevation. The fixed osteoderms had fewer foramina arranged in the form of an arch with a posterior concavity and a narrower longitudinal central elevation, delimited by superficial longitudinal depressions.Góis, Flávio; Scillato-Yané, Gustavo Juan. Nueva especie de ''Scirrotherium'' (Xenarthra, Cingulata, Pampatheriidae) del "Conglomerado osífero" (Mioceno tardío), base de la Formación Ituzaingó, provincia de Entre Ríos, Argentina. X Congreso Argentino de Paleontología y Bioestratigrafía-VII Congreso Latinoamericano de Paleontología. 2010 Pampathere osteoderms attributed to this genus, from the

Ituzaingó Formation The Ituzaingó Formation (), in older literature also described as Entre Ríos or Entrerriana Formation, is an extensive formation (geology), geological formation of Late Miocene (Tortonian, or Huayquerian in the South American land mammal age, SA ...

in the

Entre Ríos Province Entre Ríos (, "Between Rivers") is a Center Region, Argentina, central provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia, Argentina, Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires (so ...

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 ...

, the Puerto Madryn Formation in the

Valdes Peninsula Valdez or Valdés may refer to: People *Valdez (surname) *Valdés (surname) * Valdez (Brazilian footballer) (born 1943), a Brazilian former footballer * Valdez Demings, U.S. politician Geography * Valdés, Asturias, Spain *Valdez, Alaska Vald ...

in Argentine

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

and the

Solimões Formation The Pebas Formation is a lithostratigraphic unit of Miocene age, found in western Amazonia. The formation extends over , including parts of Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.Wesselingh et al., 2006 It is interpreted as representing the deposit ...

in the

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian State of Acre, under the species ''S. carinatum'' have some anatomical differences with the type species, such as the anterior foramina of the mobile osteoderms arranged in a row and a longitudinal central elevation carinated.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q9075197 Prehistoric cingulates Prehistoric placental genera Miocene xenarthrans Miocene genus first appearances Miocene mammals of South America Pliocene mammals of South America Pliocene xenarthrans Pliocene genus extinctions Neogene Argentina Fossils of Argentina Fossils of Brazil Neogene Brazil Neogene Colombia Fossils of Colombia Honda Group, Colombia Ituzaingó Formation Fossil taxa described in 1997