Cingulata, part of the superorder

Xenarthra Xenarthra (; from Ancient Greek ξένος, xénos, "foreign, alien" + ἄρθρον, árthron, "joint") is a major clade of placental mammals native to the Americas. There are 31 living species: the anteaters, tree sloths, and armadillos. ...

, is an order of

armored Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or f ...

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

placental Placental mammals (infraclass Placentalia ) are one of the three extant subdivisions of the class Mammalia, the other two being Monotremata and Marsupialia. Placentalia contains the vast majority of extant mammals, which are partly distinguishe ...

mammals. Dasypodids and chlamyphorids, the armadillos, are the only surviving

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

in the order. Two groups of cingulates much larger than extant armadillos (maximum body mass of 45 kg (100 lb) in the case of the giant armadillo) existed until recently: pampatheriids, which reached weights of up to 200 kg (440 lb) and chlamyphorid glyptodonts, which attained masses of 2,000 kg (4,400 lb) or more. The cingulate order originated in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

during the Paleocene epoch about 66 to 56 million years ago, and due to the continent's former isolation remained confined to it during most of the Cenozoic. However, the formation of a

land bridge In biogeography, a land bridge is an isthmus or wider land connection between otherwise separate areas, over which animals and plants are able to cross and colonize new lands. A land bridge can be created by marine regression, in which sea leve ...

allowed members of all three families to migrate to southern North America during the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58 or early

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

as part of the Great American Interchange. After surviving for tens of millions of years, all of the pampatheriids and giant glyptodonts apparently died out during the

Quaternary extinction event The Quaternary period (from 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present) has seen the extinctions of numerous predominantly megafaunal species, which have resulted in a collapse in faunal density and diversity and the extinction of key ecolog ...

at the beginning of the

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

, along with much of the rest of the regional megafauna, shortly after the colonization of the Americas by Paleo-Indians.

Description

Armadillos have dorsal armor that is formed by

osteoderm Osteoderms are bony deposits forming scales, plates, or other structures based in the dermis. Osteoderms are found in many groups of extant and extinct reptiles and amphibians, including lizards, crocodilians, frogs, temnospondyls (extinc ...

s, plates of dermal bone covered in relatively small, overlapping

keratin Keratin () is one of a family of structural fibrous proteins also known as ''scleroproteins''. Alpha-keratin (α-keratin) is a type of keratin found in vertebrates. It is the key structural material making up scales, hair, nails, feathers, ho ...

ized epidermal scales called "

scute A scute or scutum (Latin: ''scutum''; plural: ''scuta'' "shield") is a bony external plate or scale overlaid with horn, as on the shell of a turtle, the skin of crocodilians, and the feet of birds. The term is also used to describe the anterior po ...

s". Most species have rigid shields over the shoulders and hips, with three to nine bands separated by flexible skin covering the back and flanks. Pampatheres also had shells that were flexible due to three movable lateral bands of osteoderms. The osteoderms of pampatheres were each covered by a single scute, unlike those of armadillos, which have more than one. Glyptodonts, on the other hand, had rigid, turtle-like shells of fused osteoderms. Both groups have or had a cap of armor atop their heads. Glyptodonts also had heavily armored tails; some, such as ''

Doedicurus ''Doedicurus'', or ''Dædicurus'', is an extinct genus of glyptodont from South America containing one species, ''D. clavicaudatus''. Glyptodonts are a member of the family Chlamyphoridae, which also includes some modern armadillo species, ...

'', had mace-like clubs at the ends of their tails, similar to those of ankylosaurs, evidently used for defensive or

agonistic An agonist is a chemical that activates a receptor to produce a biological response. Receptors are cellular proteins whose activation causes the cell to modify what it is currently doing. In contrast, an antagonist blocks the action of the agon ...

purposes. Most armadillos eat insects and other invertebrates; some are more

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nut ...

and may also eat small vertebrates and vegetable matter. Pampatheres are thought to have been specialized for

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...

, and isotopic analysis indicates the diet of glyptodonts was dominated by C4

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...

es. Euphractinae is unique for speciations towards

carnivory A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other so ...

, culminating in the macropredatory genus '' Macroeuphractus''.

Classification

The taxonomic table below follows the results of a

phylogenetic analysis In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

published by Delsuc ''et al.'', 2016. While glyptodonts have traditionally been considered stem-group cingulates outside the group that contains modern armadillos, this 2016 study conducted an analysis of ''

mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...

and found that it was, in fact, nested within the modern armadillos as the sister group of a clade consisting of Chlamyphorinae and Tolypeutinae. Order Cingulata * Family † Protobradyidae Ameghino 1902 ** Genus †'' Protobradys'' Ameghino 1902 * Family † Peltephilidae Ameghino 1894 ** Genus †'' Anantiosodon'' Ameghino 1891 ** Genus †'' Epipeltephilus'' Ameghino 1904 ** Genus †'' Parapeltecoelus'' Bordas 1938 ** Genus †'' Peltecoelus'' Ameghino 1902 ** Genus †'' Peltephilus'' Ameghino 1887 (Horned armadillo) ** Genus †'' Ronwolffia'' Shockey 2017 * Family † Paleopeltidae Ameghino 1895 ** Genus †'' Palaeopeltis'' Ameghino 1895 * Family †

Pampatheriidae Pampatheriidae ("Pampas beasts") is an extinct family of large plantigrade armored armadillos related to extant armadillos in the order Cingulata. However, pampatheriids have existed as a separate lineage since at least the middle Eocene Muste ...

** Genus ? †'' Machlydotherium'' Ameghino 1902 ** Genus †''

Holmesina ''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 megafaunal cingulates, the glyptodonts, the shell wa ...

'' Simpson 1930 ** Genus †'' Kraglievichia'' Castellanos 1927 ** Genus †'' Machlydotherium'' ** Genus †'' Pampatherium'' Ameghino 1875 ex Gervais & Ameghino 1880 ** Genus †'' Scirrotherium'' Edmund & Theodor 1997 ** Genus †'' Tonnicinctus'' Góis et al. 2015 ** Genus †'' Vassallia'' Castellanos 1927 'Plaina''_Castellanos_1937.html" ;"title="Plaina.html" ;"title="'Plaina">'Plaina'' Castellanos 1937">Plaina.html" ;"title="'Plaina">'Plaina'' Castellanos 1937** Genus †''Yuruatherium'' Ciancio et al. 2012 * Family †Pachyarmatheriidae Fernicola et al. 2018 ** Genus †'' Neoglyptatelus'' Carlini, Vizcaíno & Scillato-Yané 1997 ** Genus †'' Pachyarmatherium'' Downing & White 1995 * Family

Dasypodidae Dasypodidae is a family of mostly extinct genera of armadillos. One genus, ''Dasypus'', is extant, with at least seven living species. __TOC__ Classification Below is a taxonomy of armadillos in this family. Family Dasypodidae *† Genus ...

(long-nosed armadillos) ** Genus †'' Acantharodeia'' ** Genus †'' Amblytatus'' ** Genus †'' Archaeutatus'' ** Genus †'' Astegotherium'' ** Genus †'' Astegotherium'' ** Genus †'' Barrancatatus'' ** Genus †'' Chasicotatus'' ** Genus †'' Chorobates'' ** Genus †'' Coelutaetus'' ** Genus †'' Eocoleophorus'' ** Genus †'' Epipeltecoelus'' ** Genus †'' Eutatus'' ** Genus †'' Hemiutaetus'' ** Genus †'' Isutaetus'' ** Genus †'' Lumbreratherium'' ** Genus †'' Macrochorobates'' ** Genus †'' Mazzoniphractus'' ** Genus †'' Meteutatus'' ** Genus †'' Pedrolypeutes'' ** Genus †'' Prodasypus'' ** Genus †''

Proeutatus ''Proeutatus'' is an extinct genus of xenarthran, belonging to the order Cingulata. It lived during the Early Miocene, and its fossilized remains were discovered in South America. Description This animal was vaguely similar to the extant six-b ...

'' ** Genus †'' Prostegotherium'' ** Genus †'' Pucatherium'' ** Genus †'' Punatherium'' ** Genus †'' Stegotherium'' ** Genus †'' Stenotatus'' ** Genus †'' Utaetus'' ** Genus †'' Vetelia'' ** Subfamily Dasypodinae *** Genus †'' Anadasypus'' *** Genus '' Dasypus'' *** Genus †''

Nanoastegotherium ''Nanoastegotherium'' is an extinct genus of cingulate, belonging to the family Dasypodidae, which includes the modern nine-banded armadillos. The name of the genus means "small ''Astegotherium''", referring to its small size, smaller than the m ...

'' *** Genus †'' Parastegosimpsonia'' *** Genus †'' Pliodasypus'' *** Genus †'' Propraopus'' *** Genus †'' Riostegotherium'' *** Genus †'' Stegosimpsonia'' * Family Chlamyphoridae: glyptodonts and other armadillos ** Subfamily Chlamyphorinae: fairy armadillos *** Genus '' Calyptophractus'' *** Genus '' Chlamyphorus'' ** Subfamily Euphractinae: hairy, six-banded and pichi armadillos *** Genus '' Chaetophractus'' *** Genus †'' Doellotatus'' *** Genus '' Euphractus'' *** Genus †'' Macroeuphractus'' ***Genus †'' Peltephilus'' *** Genus †'' Proeuphractus'' *** Genus †'' Paleuphractus'' *** Genus '' Zaedyus'' ** Subfamily † Glyptodontinae: glyptodonts *** Genus †''

'' *** Genus †''

Glyptodon ''Glyptodon'' (from Greek for 'grooved or carved tooth': γλυπτός 'sculptured' and ὀδοντ-, ὀδούς 'tooth') is a genus of glyptodont (an extinct group of large, herbivorous armadillos) that lived from the Pleistocene, around 2.5 m ...

'' *** Genus †'' Glyptotherium'' *** Genus †''

Hoplophorus ''Hoplophorus'' is an extinct genus of glyptodont, a subfamily of armadillos . The only confidently known species was ''H. euphractus'', found in Pleistocene deposits in Brazil, though fossils possibly from another species are known from Bolivia. ...

'' *** Genus †''

Panochthus ''Panochthus'' is an extinct genus of glyptodont, which lived in the Gran Chaco- Pampean region of Argentina ( Lujan, Yupoí and Agua Blanca Formations), Brazil ( Jandaíra Formation), Bolivia (Tarija and Ñuapua Formations), Paraguay and Urug ...

'' *** Genus †''

Parapropalaehoplophorus ''Parapropalaehoplophorus septentrionalis'' was a comparatively small (compared to ''Glyptodon'') species of glyptodont, extinct relatives of the modern armadillo. The mammal, identified in 2007 from the fossilized remains of a specimen found in 2 ...

'' *** Genus †'' Plaxhaplous'' ** Subfamily Tolypeutinae: giant, three-banded and naked-tailed armadillos *** Genus ''

Cabassous ''Cabassous'' is a genus of South and Central American armadillos. The name is the Latinised form of the Kalini word for "armadillo". Cladogram of living ''Cabassous'' The genus contains the following four species In biology, a specie ...

'' *** Genus †'' Kuntinaru'' *** Genus '' Priodontes'' *** Genus '' Tolypeutes''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1242326 Xenarthrans Mammal orders Taxa named by Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger Extant Thanetian first appearances