Plohophorus

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Plohophorus
Temporal range: Late Miocene – Late Pliocene
~8–3  Ma
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Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Cingulata
Family: Chlamyphoridae
Subfamily: Glyptodontinae
Genus: Plohophorus
Ameghino, 1887
Type species
Plohophorus figuratus
Ameghino, 1887
Species
  • P. barrancalobensisZamorano & Scillato-Yané, 2011
  • P. coronatusRovereto, 1914
  • P. cuneiformisAmeghino, 1904
  • P. figuratusAmeghino, 1887
  • P. paranensisAmeghino, 1895
  • P. sygmaturusAmeghino, 1895
  • P. yrigoyeniYrigoyen, 1954
  • P. avellanedaQuiñones, Cuadrelli, Reyes, Luna, Poiré & Zurita, 2023
Synonyms
  • Plohophorus araucanusAmeghino, 1904
  • Plohophorus australisMoreno, 1888
  • Plohophorus orientalisAmeghino, 1889
  • Urotherium antiquumAmeghino, 1888

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.

Contents

Description

Like all glyptodonts, this animal had a large carapace formed by numerous osteoderms fused together, covering most of its body. Plohophorus shared similarities with another Miocene glyptodont, Phlyctaenopyga , especially in its rather broad and low skull. The ornamentation of the caudal tube, protecting the tail, was more simplified; the peripheral figures were partially regressed and marked in the distal part; the central oval-shaped figures were contiguous to each other and only left space for small triangular areas between each other.

Classification

The genus Plohophorus was first described in 1887 by Florentino Ameghino, based on fossil remains found in Upper Miocene terrains of Argentina. The type species is Plohophorus figuratus; several other species from the Late Miocene and the Early Pliocene were also attributed to the genus, such as Plohophorus paranensis, P. sygmaturus, P. cuneiformis, P. coronatus, P. ameghini, P. araucanus, P. australis and P. orientalis. According to the most recent revision of the genus, however, only the four first species are still considered valid. [1] In 2011, a species from the Late Pliocene of Colombia, P. barrancalobensis, was described.

Plohophorus was a rather derived glyptodont, representative of the tribe Doedicurini. Its name is an anagram of Hoplophorus , a similar but more recent genus.

References and Bibliography

  1. A. Castellanos. 1940. A propósito de los géneros Plohophorus, Nopachthus y Panochthus. Publicaciones del Instituto de Fisiografía y Geología 1: 1–279.

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