''Stenotatus'' is an

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 ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 ...

, belonging to the 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 ...

. It lived from the Early to the Late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

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 southe ...

Description

Stenotatus was a small to medium-sized

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 ...

, not exceeding 4 kilograms in weight. It was similar to other Miocene armadillos, from which it was differentiated by its rather long and narrow muzzle, notably the mandible; it had 9 to 10 teeth, simple and oval-shape, with large spaces between the five first teeth. The legs were longer and more specialized than in some of its relatives such as '' Prozaedyus''. The

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 (extinct amp ...

s composing its mobile armor had three pronounced longitudinal ridges, and it only had a single caudal row of quite narrow piliferous holes.

Classification

The first fossils of this animal were originally described in 1887 under the name ''Euphractus patagonicus''. In 1891, Ameghino described the species ''Stenotatus karaikensis''. The two species were later placed in synonymy, the type species of ''Stenotatus'' becoming ''Stenotatus patagonicus''. Other species later attributed to this genus are ''S. hesternus'', ''S. ornatus'', ''S. centralis'' and ''S. planus'', all coming from Miocene terrains of

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 ...

. Fossils attributed to ''Stenotatus'' have also been found in

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. ''Stenotatus'' is one of the most typical armadillos of the South American Miocene; initially considered similar to the extant genus ''

Euphractus The six-banded armadillo (''Euphractus sexcinctus''), also known as the yellow armadillo, is an armadillo found in South America. The sole extant member of its genus, it was first described by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The six- ...

'', it was later considered close to the genera ''

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 ...

'' and ''

Eutatus ''Eutatus'' is an extinct genus of large armadillos of the family (biology), family Chlamyphoridae. It was endemic to South America from the Miocene, Early Miocene to Late Pleistocene, living from 17.5 Annum, Ma-11,000 years ago, with possible su ...

''. It is however still unclear if those two genera constitute a monophyletic group comprising ''Stenotatus''.

Bibliography

*Ameghino, F. 1887. Enumeración sistemática de las especies de mamíferos fósiles coleccionados por Carlos Ameghino en los terrenos eocenos de Patagonia austral y depositados en el Museo La Plata. Boletín del Museo La Plata 1: 1-26. *Ameghino, F. 1891. Mamíferos y aves fósiles argentinas. Especies nuevas, adiciones y correcciones. Revista Argentina de Historia Natural 1 (4): 240-259. *Scillato-Yané, G. J. y Carlini, A. A. 1998. Nuevos Xenarthra del Friasense (Mioceno medio) de Argentina. Studia Geologica Salmanticensia 34: 43-67. *A. G. Kramarz, M. G. Vucetich, A. A. Carlini, M. R. Ciancio, M. A. Abello, C. M. Deschamps, and J. N. Gelfo. 2010. A new mammal fauna at the top of the Gran Barranca sequence and its biochronological significance. In R. H. Madden, A. A. Carlini, M. G. Vucetich, R. F. Kay (eds.), The Paleontology of Gran Barranca: Evolution and Environmental Change through the Middle Cenozoic of Patagonia 264–277 {{Taxonbar, from=Q60977569 Prehistoric cingulates Prehistoric placental genera Miocene xenarthrans Miocene genus first appearances Miocene mammals of South America Miocene genus extinctions Neogene Argentina Fossils of Argentina Neogene Chile Fossils of Bolivia Neogene Bolivia Fossils of Chile Fossil taxa described in 1891 Taxa named by Florentino Ameghino Chichinales Formation Golfo San Jorge Basin Sarmiento Formation