pampatheriidae

The placement of the Eocene genus Machlydotherium in the family is considered doubtful. The oldest undoubted member of the group is Scirrotherium from La Venta, Colombia, dating to the mid-Miocene. Analysis of ear morphology suggests that they are most closely related to the much larger glyptodonts, which genetic evidence indicates is nested with modern armadillos as part of the family Chlamyphoridae, which by extension also places pampatheres within this group.{{Cite journal |last1=Asakura |first1=Yumi |last2=Oliveira |first2=é. V. |date=2024-07-02 |title=Histovariability of cingulate osteoderms from Brazilian Pleistocene |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12542-024-00695-9 |journal=PalZ |volume=98 |issue=3 |pages=509–523 |language=en |doi=10.1007/s12542-024-00695-9 |bibcode=2024PalZ...98..509A |issn=0031-0220|url-access=subscription }}

Phylogeny after Tambusso et al. (2021):{{Cite journal |last1=Tambusso |first1=P. Sebastián |last2=Varela |first2=Luciano |last3=Góis |first3=Flávio |last4=Moura |first4=Jorge Felipe |last5=Villa |first5=Chiara |last6=Fariña |first6=Richard A. |date=June 2021 |title=The inner ear anatomy of glyptodonts and pampatheres (Xenarthra, Cingulata): Functional and phylogenetic implications |journal=Journal of South American Earth Sciences |language=en |volume=108 |pages=103189 |bibcode=2021JSAES.10803189T |doi=10.1016/j.jsames.2021.103189 |s2cid=234062118}}{{clade|{{Clade

|1= Dasypodidae

|2={{clade

|1=Euphractinae

|2={{clade

|1=Chlamyphorinae

|2=Tolypeutinae

|3={{clade

|1={{extinct}}Pampatheres

|2={{extinct}}Glyptodonts

}}}}}}}}|label1=Cingulata}}

Pampatheres are believed to have attained a weight of up to {{Convert|200|kg|abbr=on}}. Like three-banded armadillos, and unlike glyptodonts, their armored shell was given some flexibility by three movable lateral bands of scutes.{{cite journal |last=Vizcaíno |first=S. F. |author2=De Iuliis, G. |author3=Bargo, M. S. |year=1998 |title=Skull Shape, Masticatory Apparatus, and Diet of Vassallia and Holmesina (Mammalia: Xenarthra: Pampatheriidae): When Anatomy Constrains Destiny |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=291–322 |doi=10.1023/A:1020500127041 |s2cid=20186439}} The osteoderms (bony plates in the skin comprising the armor) of pampatheres were each covered by a single keratinized scute, unlike osteoderms of armadillos, which have more than one scute.

File:Holmesina 3 Clean.png

A study of pampathere jaw biomechanics showed that their masticatory musculature was more powerful and more adapted for transverse movements than that of armadillos, leading to the conclusion that much of their diet was coarse vegetation. They are thought to have been primarily grazers, unlike armadillos, which are omnivorous or insectivorous. The variation between species in the expression of adaptations for grinding coarse vegetation correlates with the aridity of their habitat; such adaptations are most pronounced in Pampatherium typum, which lived in the arid Pampas, and least pronounced in Holmesina occidentalis, which lived in humid lowlands.{{cite journal

| last = De Iuliis | first = G.|author2=Bargo, M. S. |author3=Vizcaíno, S. F.

| title = Variation in skull morphology and mastication in the fossil giant armadillo Pampatherium spp. and allied genera (Mammalia: Xenarthra: Pampatheriidae), with comments on their systematics and distribution

| journal = Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology

| volume = 20 | issue = 4 | pages = 743–754

| date = December 2000

| doi = 10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0743:VISMAM]2.0.CO;2

| s2cid = 86263866}}

Pampatheres were widely distributed across South America during the Pleistocene ranging from northern Argentina, eastwards to northeastern Brazil, and westwards to Colombia and Peru.{{Cite journal |last1=Scillato-Yané |first1=G.J. |last2=Carlini |first2=A.A. |last3=Tonni |first3=E.P. |last4=Noriega |first4=J.I. |date=October 2005 |title=Paleobiogeography of the late Pleistocene pampatheres of South America |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0895981105001288 |journal=Journal of South American Earth Sciences |language=en |volume=20 |issue=1–2 |pages=131–138 |doi=10.1016/j.jsames.2005.06.012|bibcode=2005JSAES..20..131S |hdl=11336/80762 |hdl-access=free }} As part of the Great American Interchange, pampatheres dispersed northwards into Central and North America, with members of the genus Holmesina reaching the United States, as far north as Kansas, and as far east as Florida and South Carolina.{{Citation |last=Edmund |first=A . Gordon |title=A review of Pleistocene giant armadillos (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Pampatheriidae) |date=1996-12-31 |work=Palaeoecology and Palaeoenvironments of Late Cenozoic Mammals |pages=300–321 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.3138/9781487574154-016/html |access-date=2024-08-26 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |doi=10.3138/9781487574154-016 |isbn=978-1-4875-7415-4|url-access=subscription }}

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• [https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=43546 Paleodatabase]

{{Cingulata Genera}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q630420}}

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Category:Prehistoric cingulates

Category:Oligocene first appearances

Category:Holocene extinctions

Category:Paleogene mammals of South America

Category:Neogene mammals of South America

Category:Pleistocene mammals of South America

Category:Pleistocene mammals of North America

Category:Prehistoric mammal families

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