Comaphorus

Last updated

Comaphorus
Temporal range: Late Miocene
~9–7  Ma
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Cingulata
Family: Chlamyphoridae
Subfamily: Glyptodontinae
Genus: Comaphorus
Ameghino, 1886
Type species
Comaphorus concisus
Ameghino, 1886

Comaphorus is a dubious extinct genus of glyptodont. It lived during the Late Miocene in Argentina, but only one fossil has ever been referred to the animal. [1] [2]

Contents

Description

This genus is only known from only a single dorsal carapace osteoderm that has since been lost. Like all glyptodonts, it probably had a large dorsal carapace made of fused osteoderms. Ameghino diagnosed the taxon based on very general characteristics, such as the dorsal surface being raised in the center, bearing twenty perforations lost in the thickness of the osteoderm that didn’t lead to similar perforations present on the internal surface. [2] [1] These characters are very vague and due to the holotype being missing, the taxon is still a nomen dubium. Based on its phylogenetic position in Doedicurinae, Comaphorus likely was one of the larger known glyptodonts with a robust, fused tail sheath. [3] [1]

History and classification

Comaphorus concisus was first described in 1886 by Florentino Ameghino, based on a single dorsal carapace osteoderm that had been collected from the Upper Miocene strata of the Ituzaingo Formation in Entre Rios Province, Argentina. [1] [2] Ameghino believed that the genus was closely related to the Pleistocene genus Doedicurus and Plaxhaplous, two genera that have since been classified in the tribe Doedicurini along with Eleutherocercus. [4] [2] However, the type osteoderm has since been lost [5] and the diagnostic features used by Ameghino have been observed in several other glyptodonts and are not specific, making this taxon a nomen dubium . [1] Despite this, the osteoderm’s features still indicate that it was a close relative of Doedicurus and other doedicurines. [6] [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Scalabrinitherium</i> Extinct genus of litopterns

Scalabrinitherium is an extinct genus of mammals of the family Macraucheniidae. Fossils of this animal were found among the fossils of prehistoric xenarthrans in the Ituzaingó Formation of Argentina.

<i>Hoplophorus</i> An extinct genus of mammals belonging to the armadillo order of xenarthrans

Hoplophorus is an extinct genus of glyptodont, a subfamily of armadillos. The only confidently known species was H. euphractus, found in Pleistocene deposits in Brazil, though fossils possibly from another species are known from Bolivia.

<i>Glyptodon</i> Genus of large, heavily armored mammals

Glyptodon is a genus of glyptodont, an extinct group of large, herbivorous armadillos, that lived from the Pliocene, around 3.2 million years ago, to the early Holocene, around 11,000 years ago, in Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, and Colombia. It is one of, if not the, best known genus of glyptodont. Glyptodon has a long and storied past, being the first named extinct cingulate and the type genus of the subfamily Glyptodontinae. Fossils of Glyptodon have been recorded as early as 1814 from Pleistocene aged deposits from Uruguay, though many were incorrectly referred to the ground sloth Megatherium by early paleontologists.

<i>Stegotherium</i> Extinct genus of mammals in the armadillo order of xenarthrans

Stegotherium is an extinct genus of long-nosed armadillo, belonging to the Dasypodidae family alongside the nine-banded armadillo. It is currently the only genus recognized as a member of the tribe Stegotheriini. It lived during the Early Miocene of Patagonia and was found in Colhuehuapian rocks from the Sarmiento Formation, Santacrucian rocks from the Santa Cruz Formation, and potentially also in Colloncuran rocks from the Middle Miocene Collón Curá Formation. Its strange, almost toothless and elongated skull indicates a specialization for myrmecophagy, the eating of ants, unique among the order Cingulata, which includes pampatheres, glyptodonts and all the extant species of armadillos.

<i>Neosclerocalyptus</i> Extinct genus of mammals

Neosclerocalyptus was an extinct genus of glyptodont that lived during the Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene of Southern South America, mostly Argentina. It was small compared to many Glyptodonts at only around 2 meters long and 360 kilograms.

<i>Lomaphorus</i> Extinct genus of mammals belonging to the armadillo order of xenarthrans

Lomaphorus is a possibly dubious extinct genus of glyptodont that lived during the Pleistocene in eastern Argentina. Although many species have been referred, the genus itself is possibly dubious or synonymous with other glyptodonts like Neoslerocalyptus from the same region.

Kraglievichia is an extinct genus of cingulate belonging to the family Pampatheriidae. It lived from the Late Miocene to the Early Pliocene, and its fossilized remains were discovered in South America.

Proeuphractus is an extinct genus of xenarthran, related to the modern armadillos. It lived from the Early to the Late Miocene, and its fossilized remains were discovered in South America.

<i>Prozaedyus</i> An extinct genus of mammals belonging to the armadillo order of xenarthrans

Prozaedyus is an extinct genus of chlamyphorid armadillo that lived during the Middle Oligocene and Middle Miocene in what is now South America.

Protoglyptodon is an extinct genus of glyptodont. It lived during the Late Miocene, and its fossilized remains were found in South America.

Palaehoplophorus is an extinct genus of glyptodont. It lived from the Middle to the Late Miocene, and its fossilized remains were discovered in South America.

Urotherium is an extinct genus of Glyptodont. It lived from the Late Miocene to the Late Pliocene, and its fossilized remains were found in South America.

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.

Phlyctaenopyga is an extinct genus of Glyptodont. It lived from the Late Miocene to the Early Pliocene, and its fossilized remains were discovered in South America.

Neuryurus is an extinct genus of glyptodont. It lived from the Late Pliocene to the Early Holocene, and its fossilized remains were discovered in South America.

Eosclerocalyptus is an extinct genus of glyptodont. It lived during the Late Miocene, and its fossilized remains were discovered in South America.

Dasypus neogaeus is an extinct species of armadillo, belonging to the genus Dasypus, alongside the modern nine-banded armadillo. The only known fossil is a single osteoderm, though it has been lost, that was found in the Late Miocene strata of Argentina.

Caiman australis is an extinct species of caiman described in 1858 on the basis of a left maxilla that was collected from the Upper Miocene age Ituzaingó Formation of Entre Rios, Argentina.

<i>Ortotherium</i> Extinct genus of ground sloth

Ortotherium is a genus of megalonychid ground sloth from the Late Miocene Ituzaingó Formation of Entre Rios Province, Argentina. Although many species were described, the only valid species of the genus is Ortotherium laticurvatum, with many species being junior synonyms. Ortotherium is known from very fragmentary material, all of which is material from the mandible and teeth. The holotype of O. laticurvatum consists of an incomplete left dentary that had been unearthed from a series of sediments known as ‘Conglomerado osifero’ in Paraná, Argentina. Argentina paleontologist Florentino Ameghino named the species in 1885, though he would go on to name four more, invalid, species of the genus. One species however, O. brevirostrum, has been reclassified as Mesopotamocnus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peltephilidae</span> Family of South American cingulates (armadillos)

Peltephilidae is a family of South American cingulates (armadillos) that lived for over 40 million years, but peaked in diversity towards the end of the Oligocene and beginning of the Miocene in what is now Argentina. They were exclusive to South America due to its geographic isolation at the time, one of many of the continent's strange endemic families. Peltephilids are one of the earliest known cingulates, diverging from the rest of Cingulata in the Early Eocene.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Scillato, G. J. (2013). Los Cingulata (Mammalia, Xenarthra) del “Conglomerado Osífero”(Mioceno tardío) de la Formación Ituzaingó de Entre Ríos, Argentina. Publicación Electrónica de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina, 14(1).
  2. 1 2 3 4 Ameghino, F. (1886). Contribuciones al conocimiento de los mamíferos fósiles de los terrenos terciarios antiguos del Paraná (Vol. 9). PE Coni.
  3. Defler, Thomas (2018-12-20). "The Xenarthrans: Armadillos, Glyptodonts, Anteaters, and Sloths". Topics in Geobiology. Vol. 42. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 117–138. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-98449-0_6. ISBN   978-3-319-98448-3. ISSN   0275-0120. S2CID   92413294.
  4. Cione, A. L., Azpelicueta, M. D. L. M., Bond, M., Carlini, A. A., Casciotta, J. R., Cozzuol, M. A., ... & Vucetich, M. G. (2000). Miocene vertebrates from Entre Ríos province, eastern Argentina. El Neógeno de Argentina. Serie Correlación Geológica, 14, 191–237.
  5. Mones, A. (1986). Palaeovertebrata Sudamericana.-Catálogo Sistemático de los Vertebrados Fósiles de America-del Sur-Parte I. Lista Preliminar y Bibliografía.
  6. Zurita, A. E., Taglioretti, M., Reyes, M. D. L., Oliva, C., & Scaglia, F. (2016). First Neogene skulls of Doedicurinae (Xenarthra, Glyptodontidae): morphology and phylogenetic implications. Historical Biology, 28(3), 423–432.
  7. Carlini, A. A., Zurita, A. E., & Miño-Boilini, A. R. (2008). Reseña paleobiogeográfica de los Xenarthra (Mammalia) del Pleistoceno tardío de la región Mesopotámica (Argentina). INSUGEO (Miscelánea), 17(2), 259–270.