''Pampatherium'' is an extinct genus of

xenarthran 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. Ex ...

that lived in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

during the

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 ...

. Some species went extinct right at the Pleistocene-

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 ...

border.

Distribution

''Pampatherium humboldtii'' and ''P. typum'' lived 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 ...

(mostly

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

) during the Pleistocene, with ''P. humboldtii'' surviving into the very Late Pleistocene. ''Pampatherium mexicanum'' was the only

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

species, reaching as far north as

Sonora, Mexico Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...

. It lived during the

Rancholabrean The Rancholabrean North American Land Mammal Age on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from less than 240,000 years to 11,000 years BP, a pe ...

Description

''Pampatherium'' resembled a very large armadillo. One species, ''P. humboldtii'', weighed up to . Pampatheres generally resembled armadillos, particularly in the shape of it skull, long snout, and the presence of three areas on the carapace (movable bands, scapular and pelvic shields). Among the features that distinguish them from armadillos are their posterior teeth, which are bilobate rather than peg-like. Their endocranial morphology is also similar to

glyptodonts 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-k ...

. The osteoderms of ''Pampatherium'' have little ornamentation, lack a depressed marginal band, and those from the posterior buckler are mostly rectangular. ''Pampatherium'' is thought to have excavated

paleoburrow A paleoburrow is an underground shelter (tunnel, burrow, lair, etc.) excavated by extinct paleo-vertebrate megafauna (i.e., giant mammals, such as ground sloths) that lived in the prehistoric era. A crotovina is a paleoburrow filled with sediment ...

s and would have both fought with and have been preyed upon by '' Arctotherium angustidens'' in these dens.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1119613 Prehistoric cingulates Pleistocene xenarthrans Pleistocene mammals of North America Fossils of Mexico Pleistocene mammals of South America Prehistoric mammal genera Fossil taxa described in 1875 Taxa named by Florentino Ameghino