Glyptodonts are an extinct clade of large, heavily armoured armadillos, reaching up to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) 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 clubbed tails, similar to ankylosaurid dinosaurs.[1]

Glyptodonts
Temporal range: EoceneLate Pleistocene (DivisaderanLujanian)
~38–0.011 Ma
Glyptodon fossil, Natural History Museum, Vienna
Illustration of the skeleton of Doedicurus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Cingulata
Family: Chlamyphoridae
Subfamily: Glyptodontinae
Burmeister 1879
Genera

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.[2] 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 Chlamyphorinae (fairy armadillos) and Tolypeutinae (giant, three-banded and naked-tailed armadillos). For this reason, glyptodonts and all armadillos but Dasypus (long-nosed or naked-tailed armadillos) were relocated to a new family, Chlamyphoridae, and glyptodonts were demoted to the subfamily Glyptodontinae.[2][1] Other authors have continued to use Glyptodontidae.[3] Based on the morphology of the inner ear, a close relationship with pampatheres has also been proposed.[4]

Glyptodonts abruptly became extinct approximately 12,000 years ago at the end of the Late Pleistocene, as part of the Late Pleistocene extinctions, along with most other large animals in the Americas. Evidence has been found suggesting that they were hunted by recently arrived Paleoindians, which may have played a role in their extinction.[3]

Evolution edit

Glyptodonts first evolved during the Eocene in South America, which remained their center of species diversity. For example, an Early Miocene glyptodont with many primitive features (comparatively to other species), Parapropalaehoplophorus septentrionalis, was discovered at a now-elevated site in Chile and described in 2007.[5] After the Isthmus of Panama formed about three million years ago, the genus Glyptotherium spread north as part of the Great American Interchange, as did pampatheres, armadillos and a number of other types of xenarthrans (e.g., ground sloths).

Cladogram of Cingulata[2][6][7]
 Cingulata 







Analysis of inner ear morphology corroborates this position, while also finding that pampatheres are the closet relatives of Glyptodonts:[4]

Glyptodonts are divided into two major groups, which split during or prior to the Early Miocene. The first is the traditional Glyptodontinae, which is includes the well known genera of Glyptodon and Glyptotherium, which probably originated in Northern South America, while the second is the unnamed "Austral clade", containing the majority of glyptodont diversity, which as the name suggests probably originated in Southern South America.[8]

Cladogram after Barasoain et al. 2022:[8]

Description edit

 
Doedicurus and Glyptodon by Robert Bruce Horsfall

The largest glyptodonts like Doedicurus reached a height of 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) and 4 metres (13 ft) in length, with a body mass of over two tonnes. The body of glyptodonts was covered in a large immobile carapace made up of hundreds of bony scutes/osteoderms, with the underside of the body and the top of the head also being protected with osteoderms. This protection reached a thickness of 2.5 centimetres (0.98 in). The vertebrae of the back were extensively fused to each other. The limbs were short and robustly built, with the pectoral girdle being wide. The head was short and blunt, with deep jaws. The teeth were grooved, and were evergrowing.[1] The tail was covered in rings composed of osteoderms, which allowed the tail to flex. In many glyptodonts (members of the "Austral clade" other than Propalaehoplophorus and Eucinepeltus), the end of the tail was covered in a competely fused "caudal tube".[8] The end of caudal tubes of at least some glyptodonts are covered in depressions which in life are suggested to have been anchoring points for horny, likely keratinous spikes, allowing for the tail to function as an effective weapon when swung. These "tail clubs" are similar in construction to those of ankylosaurid dinosaurs.[9]

Ecology edit

Glyptodonts are thought to have been herbivores that fed on low lying vegetation, with mixed feeding or grazing based diets.[10] Some glyptodonts were likely selective feeders, while others were likely bulk feeders.[10][11]

 
Detail of Propalaehoplophorus scutes, early Miocene, in the permanent collection of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

Extinction edit

At the end of the Late Pleistocene, all then-living glyptodont species, which belonged to the genera Glyptodon, Hoplophorus, Glyptotherium, Panochthus, Doedicurus and Neosclerocalyptus, abruptly became extinct around 12,000 years ago as part of the Late Pleistocene extinctions, simultaneously with the vast majority of other large mammals in the Americas. The importance of human vs climatic factors in these extinctions has been the subject of contention. Several sites across South America are suggested to document hunting of glyptodonts by the recently arrived Paleoindians, which may have played a role in their extinction.[12][3] At the Muaco and Taima-Taima sites in Falcón State in northwestern Venezuela, several skulls of Glyptotherium display distinctive fracture marks on the skull roof that occurred around the time of death, suggested to have been caused by a deliberate percussive blow to a relatively thin part of the skull by a club or stone tool.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Mitchell, Kieren J.; Scanferla, Agustin; Soibelzon, Esteban; Bonini, Ricardo; Ochoa, Javier; Cooper, Alan (July 2016). "Ancient DNA from the extinct South American giant glyptodont Doedicurus sp. (Xenarthra: Glyptodontidae) reveals that glyptodonts evolved from Eocene armadillos". Molecular Ecology. 25 (14): 3499–3508. Bibcode:2016MolEc..25.3499M. doi:10.1111/mec.13695. ISSN 0962-1083. PMID 27158910. S2CID 3720645.
  2. ^ a b c Delsuc, F.; Gibb, G. C.; Kuch, M.; Billet, G.; Hautier, L.; Southon, J.; Rouillard, J.-M.; Fernicola, J. C.; Vizcaíno, S. F.; MacPhee, R. D.E.; Poinar, H. N. (2016-02-22). "The phylogenetic affinities of the extinct glyptodonts". Current Biology. 26 (4): R155–R156. Bibcode:2016CBio...26.R155D. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.01.039. PMID 26906483.
  3. ^ a b c d Carlini, Alfredo A.; Carrillo-Briceño, Jorge D.; Jaimes, Arturo; Aguilera, Orangel; Zurita, Alfredo E.; Iriarte, José; Sánchez-Villagra, Marcelo R. (December 2022). "Damaged glyptodontid skulls from Late Pleistocene sites of northwestern Venezuela: evidence of hunting by humans?". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 141 (1): 11. Bibcode:2022SwJP..141...11C. doi:10.1186/s13358-022-00253-3. ISSN 1664-2376.
  4. ^ a b Tambusso, P. Sebastián; Varela, Luciano; Góis, Flávio; Moura, Jorge Felipe; Villa, Chiara; Fariña, Richard A. (June 2021). "The inner ear anatomy of glyptodonts and pampatheres (Xenarthra, Cingulata): Functional and phylogenetic implications". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 108: 103189. Bibcode:2021JSAES.10803189T. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2021.103189. S2CID 234062118.
  5. ^ Case Western Reserve University. "Andean Highlands In Chile Yield Ancient South American Armored Mammal Fossil". Science Daily. Retrieved 2007-12-14.
  6. ^ Upham, Nathan S.; Esselstyn, Jacob A.; Jetz, Walter (2019). "Inferring the mammal tree: Species-level sets of phylogenies for questions in ecology, evolution and conservation". PLOS Biol. 17 (12): e3000494. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3000494. PMC 6892540. PMID 31800571.
  7. ^ Gibb, Gillian C.; Condamine, Fabien L.; Kuch, Melanie; Enk, Jacob; Moraes-Barros, Nadia; Superina, Mariella; Poinar, Hendrik N.; Delsuc, Frédéric (2015). "Shotgun Mitogenomics Provides a Reference PhyloGenetic Framework and Timescale for Living Xenarthrans". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 33 (3): 621–642. doi:10.1093/molbev/msv250. PMC 4760074. PMID 26556496.
  8. ^ a b c Barasoain, Daniel; Zurita, Alfredo E.; Croft, Darin A.; Montalvo, Claudia I.; Contreras, Víctor H.; Miño-Boilini, Ángel R.; Tomassini, Rodrigo L. (June 2022). "A New Glyptodont (Xenarthra: Cingulata) from the Late Miocene of Argentina: New Clues About the Oldest Extra-Patagonian Radiation in Southern South America". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 29 (2): 263–282. doi:10.1007/s10914-021-09599-w. ISSN 1064-7554. S2CID 245945029.
  9. ^ Blanco, R. Ernesto; Jones, Washington W.; Rinderknecht, Andrés (2009-11-22). "The sweet spot of a biological hammer: the centre of percussion of glyptodont (Mammalia: Xenarthra) tail clubs". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 276 (1675): 3971–3978. doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.1144. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 2825778. PMID 19710060.
  10. ^ a b Saarinen, Juha; Karme, Aleksis (June 2017). "Tooth wear and diets of extant and fossil xenarthrans (Mammalia, Xenarthra) – Applying a new mesowear approach". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 476: 42–54. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.03.027.
  11. ^ Vizcaíno, Sergio F.; Cassini, Guillermo H.; Fernicola, Juan C.; Bargo, M. Susana (2011-09-30). "Evaluating Habitats and Feeding Habits Through Ecomorphological Features in Glyptodonts (Mammalia, Xenarthra)". Ameghiniana: 305–319. doi:10.5710/AMGH.v48i3(364). hdl:11336/69574.
  12. ^ Politis, Gustavo G.; Messineo, Pablo G.; Stafford, Thomas W.; Lindsey, Emily L. (March 2019). "Campo Laborde: A Late Pleistocene giant ground sloth kill and butchering site in the Pampas". Science Advances. 5 (3): eaau4546. Bibcode:2019SciA....5.4546P. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aau4546. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 6402857. PMID 30854426.

External links edit