Description
This genus is only known from very fragmentary remains from its carapace. From a comparison between those fossils and those of its later relatives, it is assumed that Glyptatelus was a rather small glyptodont, with a carapace made of polygonal osteoderms welded together to form a rigid structure. The shape of those osteoderms was hexagonal ; they featured a large central figure displaced a bit backwards, from which radial grooves branched off, separating some peripheral polygonal figures. In the older forms attributed to Glyptatelus, the individual osteoderms usually had a diameter of 1.3 millimeters and a height of 9 millimeters, while more recent forms possessed osteoderms with a diameter of 25–30 millimeters and a height of 20 millimeters.
A fragment of mandible attributed to Glyptatelus preserve a tooth divided in three lobes, like those of later glyptodonts ; the central lobe, however, was quite small. Instead of forming a relief as in the later forms, the vascular dentin corresponds to a central depression.
Classification
The genus Glyptatelus was first described in 1897 by Florentino Ameghino, based on fossils found in Oligocene terrains from Argentine Patagonia ; the type species is Glyptatelus tatusinus, but other species were later ascribed to the genus, such as Glyptatelus fractus, the oldest species, and G. malaspinensis, described by Ameghino himself in 1902.
Glyptatelus is considered to be one of the oldest glyptodonts, and the archaic structure of its osteoderms seems to indicate a position at the base of the group. Its relative Clypeotherium was slightly more recent. Two other, more recent, genera, Neoglyptatelus and Pachyarmatherium , have been considered close to Glyptatelus ; subsequent analysis tends to indicate that the latter two genera were in reality part of an entirely different clade of cingulates, the Pachyarmatheriidae.
Pyrotherium is an extinct genus of South American ungulate, of the order Pyrotheria, that lived in what is now Argentina and Bolivia, during the Late Oligocene. It was named Pyrotherium because the first specimens were excavated from an ancient volcanic ash deposit. Fossils of the genus have been found in the Deseado and Sarmiento Formations of Argentina and the Salla Formation of Bolivia.
Propalaehoplophorus, also written as Propalaeohoplophorus, is an extinct genus of glyptodont, which lived in South America during the Early Miocene epoch.
Prosotherium is an extinct genus of hegetotheriid notoungulate. It lived during the Late Oligocene, and its fossilized remains were found in South America.
Proadiantus(Ameghino, 1897) is an extinct genus of adianthid litoptern. It lived during the Late Oligocene, in what is today South America. It consists of only 1 species, Proadiantus excavatus.
Proadinotherium is an extinct genus of toxodontid. It lived between the Late Oligocene and the Early Miocene in what is now South America.
Eohyrax is an extinct genus of Notoungulate, belonging to the suborder Typotheria. It lived during the Middle Eocene, and its remains were discovered in South America.
Isotemnus is an extinct genus of notoungulate belonging to the family Isotemnidae. It lived from the Late Paleocene to the Middle Eocene of what is now Argentina.
Periphragnis is an extinct genus of isotemnid notoungulates that lived from the Middle Eocene to the Early Oligocene in what is now Argentina and Chile.
Pleurostylodon is an extinct genus of notoungulate belonging to the family Isotemnidae. It lived during the Middle Eocene, in what is now Argentina.
Eurygenium is an extinct genus of notoungulate belonging to the family Notohippidae. It lived during the Late Oligocene in what is today South America.
Morphippus is an extinct genus of notohippid notoungulate that lived during the Middle to Late Oligocene in what is now South America.
Acoelodus is an extinct genus of placental mammal, belonging to the order Notoungulata. The genus was first described by Florentino Ameghino in 1897. Its fossilized remains were discovered in Casamayoran terrains from Argentine Patagonia.
Ancylocoelus is an extinct genus of mammal, belonging to the order Notoungulata. It lived during the Late Oligocene, in what is today Argentina, in South America.
Argyrohyrax is an extinct genus of interatheriid notoungulate that lived during the Late Oligocene, of what is now Argentina and Bolivia.
Machlydotherium is an extinct genus of cingulate of uncertain systematic affinities, perhaps belonging to the Pampatheriidae. It lived from the Middle Eocene to the Early Oligocene, and its fossilized remains were found 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.
Prozaedyus is an extinct genus of chlamyphorid armadillo that lived during the Middle Oligocene and Middle Miocene in what is now South America.
Eucinepeltus is an extinct genus of glyptodont. It lived during the Early Miocene, and its fossilized remains were discovered in 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.
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