A New Glyptothere Discovered

[Harry Pristis]

Prehistoric Armored Mammal Found in Chile

*IMAGE*

Kelly Hearn

for National Geographic News

December 12, 2007

Fossils found in South America's Andes mountains belong to a new species of

the ancient armored mammals called glyptodonts, scientists say.

Relatives of the modern armadillo, glyptodonts were clumsy, bizarre-looking

mammals covered with thick, immovable plates.

The animals-which perished at the end of the Ice Age several thousand years

ago-could grow to the size of a small car.

The newfound fossils are from the Miocene epoch (about 5 to 23 million years

ago) and offer important insights into the evolution of the strange

creatures, paleontologists say.

But scientists who study fossils to reconstruct ancient ecosystems say the

fossil also helps reveal surprising aspects of South America's ancient

geography.

Early Example

U.S. and Chilean scientists found the specimen three years ago while working

near a site known as Salar de Surire in northern Chile. The location is some

14,000 feet (4,267 meters) above sea level.

"We had worked at the site several times and had a good idea of the sort of

animals that were there," said Darin Croft, a mammalian paleontologist from

Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. "But we hadn't found a good

glyptodont fossil."

But in 2004, when Croft and his colleagues returned to Salar de Surire, "we

were casually looking around and happened to see osteoderms [plates of bones

that form the new glyptodont's shell] eroding out of the ground," he said.

Three days of digging revealed parts of a shell, a jaw, and a limb bone.

"We didn't immediately recognize it as new," Croft told National Geographic

News.

"It wasn't until we brought the specimen back and cleaned the bones did we

realize it wasn't quite like anything else around."

The new species-which Croft and his team named Parapropalaehoplophorus

septentrionalis-was a relatively small glyptodont, Croft said, weighing

about 200 pounds (91 kilograms).

Because the fossil is only known from one location, the team isn't sure why

the species went extinct, he added. But he pointed out that the new fossil

contained partial hinges in its armor.

"Nearly all later glyptodonts have lost their hinges, while early

glyptodonts still retained parts of a hinge or couple of hinges," he said.

"Ours has a solid shell, but these partial hinges told us we had a primitive

glyptodont . closer to what ancestral glyptodonts looked like."

This animal probably died off long before the last glyptodont went extinct,

around the time humans came to the New World, he said. (Related: "Humans

Caused Australia's Ice Age Extinctions, Tooth Study Says" [January 24,

2007].)

The study, led by Croft, appears in the latest Journal of Vertebrate

Paleontology.

Andes Answers

"This represents the oldest glyptodont known from any significant skeletal

remains," said Timothy Gaudin, a biologist at the University of Tennessee

who was not involved with the study.

"Other early glyptodonts are known only from scraps of skeletons. It will

help us understand how glyptodonts evolved from their presumably more

armadillo-like ancestors."

The location of the fossil at an unexpectedly high altitude is important to

scientists studying the biodiversity of ancient South America-how animal

populations where dispersed and how those patterns changed over time-Gaudin

added.

Clumsy and large, glyptodonts likely lived on flat plains. Indeed, most

fossils have been found in low elevation sites.

"Was the animal living at 14,000 feet? Probably not," said Greg McDonald, a

U.S. National Park Service paleontologist. "It probably lived much lower.

"For me, the real question is what this tells us about the history of uplift

of the Andes mountains and how it impacted this group of animals."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/20...red-mammal.html

[Gatorman]

Great article, very interesting.

[Uncle Siphuncle]

Thanks Harry. I have a special interest in these critters. One reason I enjoy finding their remains is that you know you have something easily identifiable and extinct when you find them, regardless of mineralization, which is more than I can say for some of the other stuff I pick up. Their obscure anatomy makes them desirable finds as well.

[Harry Pristis]

Thanks Harry. I have a special interest in these critters. One reason I enjoy finding their remains is that you know you have something easily identifiable and extinct when you find them, regardless of mineralization, which is more than I can say for some of the other stuff I pick up. Their obscure anatomy makes them desirable finds as well.

I like 'em, too, Dan. Here are some images from Southern Bolivia which were taken on an outing (unforgetable!). This is typical "badlands" in the intermountain basins. The basin fill erodes radically, exposing all sorts of fossils of different ages from basin to basin. This one was Pleistocene. This climb was at 7,000-plus feet.

A native in the area was excavating this glyptodont to give to his priest who was an amateur paleontologist. I couldn't work out anything with that padre, I bought a number of things from his parishoner. I would love to go back there.

------Harry Pristis

[Gatorman]

Wow Harry, where else have you been?

[Harry Pristis]

Wow Harry, where else have you been?

I wouldn't have these panoramic shots if it weren't for my companion on the trip. She was a smoker, and the first hill was all she could manage. She stayed on the hilltop and watched (and photographed) the expedition in the distance. The Quechua Indian who led us was not breathing hard, but I sure was!

[Mike Owens]

I wouldn't have these panoramic shots if it weren't for my companion on the trip. She was a smoker, and the first hill was all she could manage. She stayed on the hilltop and watched (and photographed) the expedition in the distance. The Quechua Indian who led us was not breathing hard, but I sure was!

Harry,

Lucky you! I'd love to make a S.A. dig. They have so many interesting & large specimens there. My only concern, besides my breatheing problems, would be bandits.

Mike