Neoglyptatelus


Neoglyptatelus is an extinct genus of xenarthran, belonging to the order Cingulata. It lived from the Middle to the Late Miocene, and its fossilized remains are found in South America.

Description

This animal was roughly similar with modern armadillos, but with a very different carapace morphology. The size of Neoglyptatelus was situated between the size of a greater long-nosed armadillo and that of a giant armadillo; the type species, Neoglyptatelus originalis, reached a length of 60 centimeters, excluding the tail, and a weight around 15 kilograms.
Its carapace was divided into two separate shields, one scapular and the other pelvic, composed of numerous polygonal osteoderms 1 centimeter thick and 1.5 centimeters long, and fused together to form a rigid structure; the posterior margin of the scapular shield, which reached about half the total length of the body, consisted of two rows of wedge-shaped, imbricated osteoderms, covering the anterior margin of the pelvic shield. 'Neoglyptatelus was hence equipped with a shield rigid in most of its structure, but flexible in the middle of the back. This is a unique structure for a cingulate, the glyptodonts only having a completely rigid structure formed by fixed osteoderms, and the modern armadillos having several mobile bands in the middle of their backs.
The skull of Neoglyptatelus was long and thin, and devoid of teeth. The caudal armor was also composed of osteoderms placed side by side.

Classification

The genus Neoglyptatelus was first described in 1997, based on fossil remains found in Miocene terrains of Colombia; the type species is Neoglyptatelus originalis. Two other species, N. sincelejanus from the Middle-Late Miocene of Colombia, and N. uruguayensis, from the Late Miocene of Uruguay, have been attributed to the genus. Neoglyptatelus is an enigmatic member of the order Cingulata; at the time of its discovery it was considered a basal member of the subfamily Glyptodontinae, related to archaic forms such as Glyptatelus and surviving in remote areas of northern South America in isolation. Subsequent studies indicates that this animal, like its more recent relative Pachyarmatherium, was a member of the clade known as Pachyarmatheriidae, potentially and at least morphologically intermediate between "true" armadillos and glyptodonts.

Paleobiogeography

The peculiar geographical distribution of Neoglyptatelus and Pachyarmatherium led researchers to suppose that these animals, originating in South America during the Oligocene or the Early Miocene, migrated to North America during the Great [American Faunal Interchange], during the Pliocene.

Paleobiology

Neoglyptatelus, with its long and narrow skull devoid of teeth, probably was an insectivorous animal. It probably fed on ants, like the extant nine-banded armadillo, which has a quite similar skull.