''Scalabrinitherium'' is an extinct genus of mammals of the family

Macraucheniidae Macraucheniidae is a family in the extinct South American ungulate order Litopterna, that resembled various camelids. The reduced nasal bones of their skulls was originally suggested to have housed a small proboscis, similar to that of the sai ...

. Fossils of this animal were found among the fossils of prehistoric

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. ...

ns in the

Ituzaingó Formation The Ituzaingó Formation ( es, Formación Ituzaingó), in older literature also described as Entre Ríos or Entrerriana Formation, is an extensive geological formation of Late Miocene (Tortonian, or Huayquerian in the SALMA classification) age i ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

.''Scalabrinitherium''
at Fossilworks.org

Description

This animal was rather similar to a

llama The llama (; ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since the Pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with others as a herd. Their wool is soft ...

with a slightly heavy build; the

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, th ...

was long and low, the front teeth were slightly spatulate, and the nasal aperture set far back. It is possible that there was a strong prehensile lip or a short proboscis. The height of this animal must have exceeded two meters; the limbs were slender but relatively heavy, three-toed.

Classification

The first paleontologist to describe the fossils of this animal was Bravard, who in

1858 Events January–March * January – ** Benito Juárez (1806–1872) becomes Liberal President of Mexico. At the same time, conservatives install Félix María Zuloaga (1813–1898) as president. ** William I of Prussia becomes regen ...

attributed the fossils to a presumed South American species of the perissodactyl ''

Palaeotherium ''Palaeotherium'' (Ancient Greek for 'old beast') is an extinct genus of perissodactyl ungulate known from the Mid Eocene to earliest Oligocene of Europe. First described by French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1804, ''Palaeotherium'' was among ...

'', ''P. paranense''. It was the Argentinean paleontologist

Florentino Ameghino Florentino Ameghino (born Giovanni Battista Fiorino Giuseppe Ameghino September 19, 1853 – August 6, 1911) was an Argentine naturalist, paleontologist, anthropologist and zoologist, whose fossil discoveries on the Argentine Pampas, especially ...

, in

1883 Events January–March * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * Ja ...

, who described the genus ''Scalabrinitherium'' for this species, also describing the new species ''S. bravardi'' in the fauna of Entre Rios which dates to the Late Miocene. Later, in 1885, the same author described an additional species, ''S. rothii''. ''Scalabrinitherium'' was a rather derived representative of the

, a group of litopterns with a camel-like appearance. Probably derived from lower Miocene forms such as '' Cramauchenia'' and '' Theosodon'', this animal probably gave rise to the large macraucheniids of the

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

, such as ''

Macrauchenia ''Macrauchenia'' ("long llama", based on the now-invalid llama genus, ''Auchenia'', from Greek "big neck") was a large, long-necked and long-limbed, three-toed native South American mammal in the order Litopterna. The genus gives its name to its ...

'' and ''

Xenorhinotherium ''Xenorhinotherium'' is an extinct genus of macraucheniine macraucheniids, closely related to '' Macrauchenia'' of Patagonia. The type species is ''X. bahiense''.Cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to ...

based in the

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 Schmidt ''et al''., 2014, showing the position of ''Scalabrinitherium'':

Paleoenvironment

Fossils of ''Scalabrinitherium'' have been recovered from the

of Entre Rios,

, which preserves vast tidal flats similar to those in the modern day

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

and a warm climate. Large, herbivorous

notoungulate Notoungulata is an extinct order of mammalian ungulates that inhabited South America from the early Paleocene to the Holocene, living from approximately 61 million to 11,000 years ago. Notoungulates were morphologically diverse, with forms resemb ...

mammals in the Ituzaingó Formation were widespread, including the toxodontids '' Xotodon'' and '' Adinotherium'', and fellow

litopterns Litopterna (from grc, λῑτή πτέρνα "smooth heel") is an extinction, extinct order of fossil hoofed mammals from the Cenozoic era. The order is one of the five great orders of Meridiungulata, South American ungulates that were endemic to ...

such as '' Brachytherium'', '' Cullinia'', '' Diadiaphorus'', '' Neobrachytherium'', '' Oxyodontherium'', '' Paranauchenia'', '' Promacrauchenia'', and '' Proterotherium''. Large, armored glyptodonts like ''

Palaehoplophorus ''Palaehoplophorus'' (also spelled, historically, ''Palaeohoplophorus'') is an extinct genus of glyptodont. It lived from the Middle to the Late Miocene, and its fossilized remains were discovered in South America. Description This animal, lik ...

'', '' Eleutherocercus'', and ''

Plohophorus ''Plohophorus'' is an extinct genus of Glyptodont. it lived from the Late Miocene to the Late Pliocene, and its fossilized remains were discovered in South America. Description Like all glyptodonts, this animal had a large carapace formed by n ...

'' lived in the area as well as other cingulates like the pampatheres '' Kraglievichia'' and '' Scirrotherium'', and the dasypodid '' Dasypus neogaeus''. Carnivores included the

phorusrhacids Phorusrhacids, colloquially known as terror birds, are an extinct clade of large carnivorous flightless birds that were one of the largest species of apex predators in South America during the Cenozoic era; their conventionally accepted temporal ...

Devincenzia ''Devincenzia'' is an extinct genus of giant flightless predatory birds in the family Phorusrhacidae or "terror birds" that lived during the Early Miocene (Deseadan) Fray Bentos Formation of Uruguay and Late Miocene (Huayquerian) Ituzaingó Form ...

'' and '' Andalgalornis'' and

sparassodonts Sparassodonta (from Greek to tear, rend; and , gen. , ' tooth) is an extinct order of carnivorous metatherian mammals native to South America, related to modern marsupials. They were once considered to be true marsupials, but are now though ...

, with giant crocodilians like ''

Gryposuchus ''Gryposuchus'' is an extinct genus of gavialid crocodilian. Fossils have been found from Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and the Peruvian Amazon. The genus existed during the Miocene epoch (Colhuehuapian to Huayquerian). One recently d ...

'' and ''

Mourasuchus ''Mourasuchus'' is an extinct genus of giant, aberrant caiman from the Miocene of South America. Its skull has been described as duck-like, being broad, flat, and very elongate, superficially resembling '' Stomatosuchus'' from the Late Cretaceo ...

'' in the freshwater.

Bamboos Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

, coconut palms, and other palms were also present.Franco, M. J., & Brea, M. (2015). First extra-Patagonian record of Podocarpaceae fossil wood in the Upper Cenozoic (Ituzaingó Formation) of Argentina. ''New Zealand Journal of Botany'', ''53''(2), 103-116.

Description

Classification

Paleoenvironment

References

Further reading