Peltephilus

<i>Peltephilus</i>

Peltephilus

An extinct genus of mammals belonging to the armadillo order of xenarthrans

Peltephilus, the horned armadillo, is an extinct genus of armadillo xenarthran mammals that first inhabited Argentina during the Oligocene epoch, and became extinct in the Miocene epoch. Notably, the scutes on its head were so developed that they formed horns. Aside from the horned gophers of North America, it is the only known fossorial horned mammal.[1] P. ferox had skull about 11.7 centimetres (4.6 in),[2] and estimated body mass is around 11.07 kilograms (24.4 lb).[3]

Quick Facts Scientific classification, Type species ...

Although it had traditionally been perceived as a carnivore because of its large, triangular-shaped teeth, Vizcaino and Farina argued in 1997 that Peltephilus was a herbivore.[4]

Taxonomy

The genus was originally classified as belonging to the family Chlamyphoridae, but in 2007 was placed in its own family Peltephilidae by Darin A. Croft, John J. Flynn and Andre Wyss.[5]

Distribution

Fossils of Peltephilus have been found in:[6]

Deseadan
Miocene

References

  1. [1]
    Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. pp. 208–209. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
  2. [2]
    Vlachos, Evangelos (2018). "A Review of the Fossil Record of North American Turtles of the Clade Pan-Testudinoidea". Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 59 (1): 3–94. doi:10.3374/014.058.0201. ISSN 0079-032X.
  3. [3]
    Vizcaíno, Sergio F.; Fernicola, Juan C.; Bargo, M. Susana (2012), Bargo, M. Susana; Kay, Richard F.; Vizcaíno, Sergio F. (eds.), "Paleobiology of Santacrucian glyptodonts and armadillos (Xenarthra, Cingulata)", Early Miocene Paleobiology in Patagonia: High-Latitude Paleocommunities of the Santa Cruz Formation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 194–215, doi:10.1017/cbo9780511667381.013, ISBN 978-0-521-19461-7, retrieved 2023-05-22
  4. [4]
    Vizcaino, S. F., & R. A. Farina (1997), Diet and locomotion of the armadillo Peltephilus: a new view. Lethaia, 30, 79-86.
  5. [5]
    Croft et al., 2007
  6. [6]
    Peltephilus at Fossilworks.org
  7. [7]
    Shockey, 2017
  8. [8]
    González Ruiz et al., 2013, p. 323

Bibliography
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