Peltephilus

Peltephilus Temporal range: Oligocene-Mid Miocene (Deseadan-Mayoan) ~29.0–11.6  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Interpretation of P. ferox
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Cingulata
Family:	† Peltephilidae
Genus:	† Peltephilus Ameghino 1887
Type species
†Peltephilus ferox Ameghino 1887
Species
P. depressusAmeghino 1897 P. feroxAmeghino 1891 (type) P. giganteusAmeghino 1894 P. granosusAmeghino 1902 P. protervusAmeghino 1897 P. pumilusAmeghino 1887 P. strepensAmeghino 1887 P. undulatusAmeghino 1897

Skull of P. ferox

Peltephilus, the horned armadillo, is an extinct genus of armadillo xenarthran mammals that first inhabited Argentina during the Oligocene epoch, and became extinct in the Miocene epoch. Notably, the scutes on its head were so developed that they formed horns. Aside from the horned gophers of North America, it is the only known fossorial horned mammal. ^[1]

Description

P. ferox had a skull about 11.7 centimetres (4.6 in) long, ^[2] and its estimated body mass is around 11.07 kilograms (24.4 lb). ^[3]

The upper teeth on the anterior side of the skull were sharp, and they passed outside the lower teeth when the jaw was shut. The teeth of Peltephilus were covered in dentin. Visually, it looks as if Peltephilus had a full set of incisors, though they only bore one on each side, like modern armadillos. ^[4] The centre of the molariform teeth was formed by degenerated linear osteodentine. The orthodentine contained odontoblastic processes with abundant short extensions and reached the outer surfaces. Cementum was absent from the teeth. ^[5]

Taxonomy

The genus was originally classified as belonging to the family Chlamyphoridae, but in 2007 was placed in its own family Peltephilidae by Darin A. Croft, John J. Flynn and Andre Wyss. ^[6]

Palaeobiology

Palaeoecology

Although it had traditionally been perceived as a carnivore because of its large, triangular-shaped teeth, Vizcaino and Fariña argued in 1997 that Peltephilus was a herbivore. ^[7]

Distribution

Fossils of Peltephilus have been found in: ^[8]

Deseadan

• Argentina – Sarmiento Formation
• Bolivia – Salla Formation ^[9]

Miocene

• Argentina – Colloncuran Collón Curá Formation and Santacrucian Santa Cruz Formation ^[10]
• Bolivia – Colloncuran Nazareno Formation
• Chile – Santacrucian Chucal Formation ^[6]

References

• Paleontology portal
• Prehistoric mammals portal

1. Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. pp. 208–209. ISBN   1-84028-152-9.
2. Vlachos, Evangelos (2018). "A Review of the Fossil Record of North American Turtles of the Clade Pan-Testudinoidea" . Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History . 59 (1): 3–94. doi:10.3374/014.058.0201. ISSN   0079-032X.
3. Vizcaíno, Sergio F.; Fernicola, Juan C.; Bargo, M. Susana (2012), Bargo, M. Susana; Kay, Richard F.; Vizcaíno, Sergio F. (eds.), "Paleobiology of Santacrucian glyptodonts and armadillos (Xenarthra, Cingulata)" , Early Miocene Paleobiology in Patagonia: High-Latitude Paleocommunities of the Santa Cruz Formation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 194–215, doi:10.1017/cbo9780511667381.013, ISBN   978-0-521-19461-7 , retrieved 22 May 2023
4. Scott, William Berryman (1913). A history of land mammals in the western hemisphere. Smithsonian Libraries. New York, The MacMillan Company.
5. Kalthoff, Daniela C. (31 March 2011). "Microstructure of dental hard tissues in fossil and recent xenarthrans (Mammalia: Folivora and Cingulata)". Journal of Morphology . 272 (6): 641–661. doi:10.1002/jmor.10937. ISSN   0362-2525 . Retrieved 12 November 2025– via Wiley Online Library.
6. Croft et al., 2007
7. Vizcaino, S. F., & R. A. Farina (1997), Diet and locomotion of the armadillo Peltephilus: a new view. Lethaia, 30, 79-86.
8. Peltephilus at Fossilworks.org
9. Shockey, 2017
10. González Ruiz et al., 2013, p. 323

Bibliography

• Croft, Darin A.; Flynn, John J.; Wyss, André R. (2007). "A new basal Glyptodontid and other Xenarthra of the Early Miocene Chucal Fauna, northern Chile". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 21 (4): 781–797. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[781:ANBGAO]2.0.CO;2. S2CID   85892530 . Retrieved 2017-08-15.
• González Ruiz, Laureano Raúl; Góis, Flavio; Ciancio, Martín Ricardo; Scillato Yané, Gustavo Juan (2013). "Los Peltephilidae (Mammalia, Xenarthra) de la Formación Collón Curá (Colloncurense, Mioceno Medio), Argentina" (PDF). Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia . 16 (2): 319–330. doi:10.4072/rbp.2013.2.12 . Retrieved 2019-02-27.
• Shockey, Bruce J (2017). "New early diverging cingulate (Xenarthra: Peltephilidae) from the Late Oligocene of Bolivia and considerations regarding the origin of crown Xenarthra". Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History . 58 (2): 371–396. Retrieved 2019-02-12.