''Vassallia'' is an extinct genus of cingulate belonging to the 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 ...

. It lived between the Middle Oligocene and the Early

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

Description

This animal must have been very similar in shape and size to today's giant armadillo (''

Priodontes maximus The giant armadillo (''Priodontes maximus''), colloquially ''tatu-canastra'', ''tatou'', ''ocarro'' or ''tatú carreta'', is the largest living species of armadillo (although their extinct relatives, the glyptodonts, were much larger). It live ...

''); it is likely that the largest species of ''Vassallia maxima'' could have exceeded one meter in length. Like all pampatheres, ''Vassallia'' was also equipped with an armor consisting of

osteoderms 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 amphi ...

articulated with each other to form two rigid structures, one anterior and one posterior, and a few bands of movable osteoderms that allowed partial movement of the back. ''Vassallia'' was very similar to another pampathere, '' Kraglievichia'' from which it differed mainly in some dental features (the teeth had a somewhat simpler structure) and bony plates, which had a main figure with a slightly elevated central area. A study carried out on the dentition and

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

jaw The jaw is any opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term ''jaws'' is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth and serv ...

and

mandible In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone ...

of ''Vassallia'' indicated that this animal possessed some features comparable to those of some mammalian

ungulates Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, ca ...

, such as wide and flattened mandibular condyles, non-fused mandibular

symphysis A symphysis (, pl. symphyses) is a fibrocartilaginous fusion between two bones. It is a type of cartilaginous joint, specifically a secondary cartilaginous joint. # A symphysis is an amphiarthrosis, a slightly movable joint. # A growing togethe ...

, expanded angular processes, posteriorly extended tooth row, open

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the su ...

teeth, mesial teeth with transverse striations, elongated and gradually arranged distal teeth. ''Vassallia'' also, unlike other pampatheres such as ''

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 ...

, possessed on the occlusal surfaces of the teeth a central island of dentin resistant dentin that functioned as an ectoloph, which is also present in ungulates.

Classification

The genus ''Vassallia'' was first described by Castellanos in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 ...

; the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

, ''Vassallia minuta'', was smaller in size than that of the larger contemporary pampathere ''Kraglievichia,'' while ''V. maxima,'' described by Castellanos himself a few years later, was larger. Remains of these species have been found in

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 ...

, while fossils akin to those of ''V. minuta'' have been found in Bolivia. ''Vassallia'' is a member of the Pampatheriidae, an extinct family of cingulates of closely related to armadillos, but equipped with a different type of armor and dentition. In particular, it appears that ''Vassallia'' is a possible ancestor, or very close in origin, of the genus ''Kraglievichia,'' which in turn is seen as ancestral to the well-known '' Pampatherium''.

Paleobiology

Study of the morphology of the teeth and jaws of ''Vassallia'' indicates that this animal was a herbivore, probably feeding on grass and not on leaves and shrubs.

Bibliography

*Castellanos, A. (1927). Breves notas sobre los clamidoterios. Publ. Cent. Est. Ing. Rosario 1-8, Argentina. *L. G. Marshall and T. Sempere. 1991. The Eocene to Pleistocene vertebrates of Bolivia and their stratigraphic context: a review. Fósiles y Facies de Bolivia - Vol. 1 Vertebrados (Revista Ténica de YPFB) 12(3-4):631-652. *SF Vizcaíno, G De Iuliis, MS Bargo. 1998. Skull Shape, Masticatory Apparatus, and Diet of Vassallia and Holmesina (Mammalia: Xenarthra: Pampatheriidae): When Anatomy Constrains Destiny. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 5 (4), 291–322 *De Iuliis G, Edmund AG. Vassallia maxima Castellanos, 1946 (Mammalia: Xenarthra: Pampatheriidae), from Puerta del CorralQuemado (Late Miocene to Early Pliocene), Catamarca Province, Argentina. 2002. In: Cenozoic Mammals of Land and Sea. Emry RJ, editor. Washington, Smithsonian Institution Press; 93: 49 - 64. {{Taxonbar, from=Q28337302 Prehistoric cingulates Oligocene xenarthrans Miocene xenarthrans Pliocene xenarthrans Oligocene mammals of South America Miocene mammals of South America Pliocene mammals of South America Tinguirirican Deseadan Colhuehuapian Santacrucian Friasian Colloncuran Laventan Mayoan Chasicoan Huayquerian Montehermosan Paleogene Bolivia Fossils of Bolivia Neogene Argentina Fossils of Argentina Neogene Uruguay Fossils of Uruguay