| East Amazonian long-nosed armadillo | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Cingulata |
| Family: | Dasypodidae |
| Genus: | Dasypus |
| Species: | D. beniensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Dasypus beniensis (Lönnberg, 1942) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The East Amazonian long-nosed armadillo (Dasypus beniensis) is a species of armadillo found in the jungles between the Amazon, Madeira, and Madre de Dios rivers in northern Brazil and Bolivia. [1] [2]
Specimens of D. beniensis were first recorded in 1937, when on October 25 of that year an adult female (catalog number NRM 583386) was collected by A. M. Olalla from a site 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the confluence of the Rio Madre de Dios with Rio Beni in Victoria, northern Bolivia. [3] It was then taken to the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm where it was later described by Swedish naturalist Einar Lönnberg in 1942 as a subspecies of the previously named species Dasypus kappleri. The name derives from the Rio Beni, where the type specimen had been collected. [1] D. beniensis was later considered a junior synonym of the earlier named species D. pastasae by mammalogist Angel Cabrera in 1948, [4] a sentiment subsequently followed without comment by authors until 2018. [5] [6] The distinct nature of the anatomy of D. beniensis was briefly noted by Feijo & Cordiero-Estrela (2016), [2] but a much more detailed reassessment was published by Feijo and colleagues in 2018 which saw the revalidation of D. beniensis on a species level. [1]
Dasypus beniensis, as in other species of armadillo, was adorned with a carapace composed of bony osteoderms which were especially rough in D. beniensis and D. pastasae. It had a long, straight tail enraptured in caudal osteoderms that formed rings around the underlying skin. The limbs were short and stout, bearing large claws and movable elbows to assist with digging. The skull is elongated with a triangular outline in dorsal view, which narrowed towards the tip of the snout. The cranium was taller topped by a cephalic shield, with a maxilla lined with small, peg-like teeth adapted for the consumption of insects and small animals. [1] In the skull, it is well-distinguished from other species of the genus which were overlooked for many years. The cephalic shield, a cap on the skull made up of osteoderms, lacks a occipital lobe that is well-formed which is usually prominent in other members of the genus. The lacrimal on the posterior part of the skull is greatly smoothed with a curve, while it is straighter in other forms. The palatine has a crest on its lateral face, while at the posterior margin it is convex. The parietals are weakly-developed and pentagonal in outline instead of broad in D. pastasae. [1] [3] [7]
Armadillos are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. They form part of the superorder Xenarthra, along with the anteaters and sloths. 21 extant species of armadillo have been described, some of which are distinguished by the number of bands on their armor. All species are native to the Americas, where they inhabit a variety of different environments.
Glyptodonts are an extinct clade of large, heavily armoured armadillos, reaching up to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in height, and maximum body masses of around 2 tonnes. They had short, deep skulls, a fused vertebral column, and a large bony carapace made up of hundreds of individual scutes. Some glyptodonts had clubbed tails, similar to ankylosaurid dinosaurs.
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 armadillos existed until recently: pampatheriids, which reached weights of up to 200 kg (440 lb) and chlamyphorid glyptodonts, which attained masses of 2,000 kg (4,400 lb) or more.
The nine-banded armadillo, also known as the nine-banded long-nosed armadillo or common long-nosed armadillo, is a mammal found in North, Central, and South America, making it the most widespread of the armadillos. Its ancestors originated in South America, and remained there until the formation of the Isthmus of Panama allowed them to enter North America as part of the Great American Interchange. The nine-banded armadillo is a solitary, mainly nocturnal animal, found in many kinds of habitats, from mature and secondary rainforests to grassland and dry scrub. It is an insectivore, feeding chiefly on ants, termites, and other small invertebrates. The armadillo can jump 91–120 cm (3–4 ft) straight in the air if sufficiently frightened, making it a particular danger on roads. It is the state small mammal of Texas.
The greater long-nosed armadillo is a South American species of armadillo found in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. It is a solitary, nocturnal, terrestrial animal that feeds on arthropods and other invertebrates, usually living in the vicinity of streams and swamps.
The seven-banded armadillo, also known as the Brazilian lesser long-nosed armadillo, is a species of armadillo from South America found in Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil. It is a solitary nocturnal, terrestrial animal, living mostly in dry habitats, outside of rainforest regions.
Dasypus bellus, the beautiful armadillo, is an extinct armadillo species endemic to North America and South America from the Pleistocene, living from 1.8 mya—11,000 years ago, existing for approximately 1.789 million years.
The hairy long-nosed armadillo or woolly armadillo is a species of armadillo in the family Dasypodidae. It is endemic to Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. The International Union for Conservation of Nature used to consider it a "vulnerable species" but has changed this assessment to "data deficient" because so little is known about the animal and the threats it faces.
Yepes's mulita or the Yungas lesser long-nosed armadillo is a species of armadillo in the family Dasypodidae. It is endemic to Argentina and Bolivia. Its natural habitat is subtropical dry forests. The species was renamed D. yepesi because the type of D. mazzai was suspected to correspond of other species of Dasypus, which it was later proved wrong, becoming D. yepesi a synonym of D. mazzai.
The Llanos long-nosed armadillo or northern long-nosed armadillo is a species of armadillo in the family Dasypodidae. It is endemic to Colombia and Venezuela, where its habitat is the intermittently flooded grassland of the Llanos. The species is closely related to the nine-banded armadillo and the great long-nosed armadillo. It has very little hair and can weigh up to 22 pounds (9.5 kg), and can grow to about 2.1 feet (60 cm) long. It lives in dense cover near limestone formations. Like most other armadillos, it eats ants.
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.
Propalaehoplophorus, also written as Propalaeohoplophorus, is an extinct genus of glyptodont, which lived in South America during the Early Miocene epoch.
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.
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.
Kelenkura is an extinct genus of heavily armored mammals belonging to the subfamily Glyptodontinae, from the family Chlamyphoridae that contain most of the modern armadillos. It was a medium-sized South American animal, distantly related to Doedicurus. Fossils of this genus were recovered in the Arroyo Chasicó Formation and in the Loma de Las Tapias Formation of Argentina in rocks dating back to the Late Miocene epoch.
Epipeltephilus is an extinct genus of armadillo, belonging to the family Peltephilidae, the "horned armadillos", whose most famous relative was Peltephilus. Epipeltephilus is the last known member of its family, becoming extinct during the Chasicoan period. It was found in the Rio Mayo Formation and the Arroyo Chasicó Formation of Argentina, and in northern Chile.
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.
Neoglyptatelus is an extinct genus of xenarthran, belonging to the order Cingulata. It lived from the Middle to the Late Miocene, and its fossilized remains are found 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.
