''Pachyarmatherium'' is a genus of extinct large

armadillo Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along wi ...

-like

cingulate Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra, is an order of armored New World placental mammals. Dasypodids and chlamyphorids, the armadillos, are the only surviving families in the order. Two groups of cingulates much larger than extant arm ...

s found in North and South America from the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs, related to the

extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...

armadillos and the

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

pampatheres 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 Musters ...

and glyptodonts. It was present from 4.9

Mya Mya may refer to: Brands and product names * Mya (program), an intelligent personal assistant created by Motorola * Mya (TV channel), an Italian Television channel * Midwest Young Artists, a comprehensive youth music program Codes * Burmese ...

to 11,000 years ago, existing for approximately .

Taxonomy

''Pachyarmatherium'' was named by Downing and White (1995). Its type is ''P. leiseyi''. It was assigned to Dasypodoidea by Downing and White (1995), and tentatively to

Glyptodontidae Glyptodonts are an extinct subfamily of large, heavily armoured armadillos. They arose in South America around 48 million years ago and spread to southern North America after the continents became connected several million years ago. The best- ...

by McKenna and Bell (1997). A cladistic analysis performed by de O. Porpino et al. (2009) led to the conclusion that ''Pachyarmatherium'' is a sister group to a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

consisting of Glyptodontidae and Pampatheriidae. Oliveira et al. (2013) suggest that ''Pachyarmatherium'' is a possible

dasypodid 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 ...

Fossil distribution of ''Pachyarmatherium''

''P. leiseyi''

* Kissimmee River site,

Tamiami Formation The Tamiami Formation is a Late Miocene to Pliocene geologic formation in the southwest Florida peninsula. Age Period: Neogene Epoch: Late Miocene to Pliocene Faunal stage: Clarendonian through Blancan ~13.06–2.588 mya, calculates to a ...

Okeechobee County, Florida Okeechobee County () is a county located in the Florida Heartland region of the state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,644. The county seat is Okeechobee. Okeechobee County comprises the Okeechobee, FL Micropolitan St ...

~4.9—1.8 Mya. * Haile 16A Site,

Alachua County, Florida Alachua County ( ) is a county in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 278,468. The county seat is Gainesville, the home of the University of Florida since 1906, when the campus ope ...

~1.8 Mya.—300,000 years ago. * Payne Creek Mine,

Polk County, Florida Polk County is located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. The county population was 725,046, as of the 2020 census. Its county seat is Bartow, and its largest city is Lakeland. Polk County comprises the Lakeland–Winter Ha ...

~1.8 Mya—300,000 years ago. * Leisey Shell Pit 1A,

Bermont Formation The Bermont Formation is a geologic formation in Florida. It preserves mostly invertebrate fossils that date back to the Middle Pleistocene. Most of the fossils preserved are extant mollusk shells. It is mined commercially along with similar fo ...

Hillsborough County, Florida Hillsborough County is located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. In the 2020 census, the population was 1,459,762, making it the fourth-most populous county in Florida and the most populous county outside the Miami metrop ...

~1.8—300,000 years ago.

''P. tenebris''

* Zumbador Cave (= Cueva del Zumbador) - Capadare Formation, Falcón, Venezuela, Pleistocene * Cueva El Miedo (= Cave Fear), Capadare Formation, Lujanian, Falcón, Venezuela, ~800,000-11,000 BP

''P. brasiliense''

Lajedo de Escada, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, Late Pleistocene, 100,000 years BP

Taxonomy

Fossil distribution of ''Pachyarmatherium''

''P. leiseyi''

''P. tenebris''

''P. brasiliense''

References

Further reading