| Holmesina Temporal range: Pliocene–Pleistocene |
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|---|---|
| Holmesina occidentalis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Superorder: | Xenarthra |
| Order: | Cingulata |
| Family: | †Pampatheriidae |
| Genus: | †Holmesina Simpson, 1930 |
| Species | |
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Holmesina is a genus of pampathere, an extinct group of armadillo-like creatures that were distantly related to extant armadillos. Like armadillos, and unlike the other extinct branch of Cingulata, the glyptodonts, the shell was made up of flexible plates which allowed the animal to move more easily. Holmesina species were herbivores that grazed on coarse vegetation; armadillos are mostly insectivorous or omnivorous.[1]
Holmesina individuals were much larger than any modern armadillo. They traveled north in the faunal interchange, and adapted well to North America, like the ground sloths, glyptodonts, armadillos, capybaras, and other South American immigrants. Their fossils are mostly found in Texas and Florida.