| Glyptotherium | |
|---|---|
| Close-up of a nearly complete Glyptotherium texanum shell. | |
| Conservation status | |
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Fossil
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Superorder: | Xenarthra |
| Order: | Cingulata |
| Family: | †Glyptodontidae |
| Genus: | †Glyptotherium |
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Glyptotherium is an extinct genus of glyptodontid, a group of extinct mammals related to the armadillo living from 4.1—1.5 Ma (AEO). The genus is considered an example of North American megafauna, of which most have become extinct. Glyptotherium may have been wiped out by climate change or human interference.[1]
Like its living relative, the armadillo, Glyptotherium had a shell which covered its entire body, similar to a turtle. However, unlike a turtle's shell, the Glyptotherium shell was made up of hundreds of small six-sided scales. Some species grew up to six feet long and its armor weighed up to a ton.
Remains of Glyptotherium species have been found in tropical and subtropical regions of Central America, Mexico, Florida, South Carolina, and Texas to Arizona.[1] There is no direct evidence of humans preying on the North American glyptodont.
Glyptotherium was named by Osborn in 1903, assigned to Glyptodontinae by Downing and White in 1995 and to Glyptodontidae by Osborn (1903), Brown (1912), Carroll (1988), Cisneros (2005) and Mead et al. (2007).