Pampatheriidae

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (June 2022) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 2,056 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Pampatheriidae]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|de|Pampatheriidae}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Pampatheriidae Temporal range: Middle Miocene–Holocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Holmesina occidentalis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Cingulata
Family:	†Pampatheriidae Paula Couto 1954
Genera
Holmesina Kraglievichia Machlydotherium? Pampatherium Plaina Scirrotherium Tonnicinctus[1] Vassallia Yuruatherium

Pampatheriidae ("Pampas beasts") is an extinct family of large cingulates related to armadillos. They first appeared in South America during the mid-Miocene, and Holmesina and Pampatherium spread to North America during the Pleistocene after the formation of the Isthmus of Panama as part of the Great American Interchange. They became extinct as part of the end-Pleistocene extinction event, about 12,000 years ago.^[2]

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.^[2] 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.^[3]

Phylogeny after Tambusso et al. (2021):^[4]

Pampatheres are believed to have attained a weight of up to 200 kg (440 lb). Like three-banded armadillos, and unlike glyptodonts, their armored shell was given some flexibility by three movable lateral bands of scutes.^[5] 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.^[5]

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.^[5] 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.^[6]

Pampatheres were widely distributed across South America during the Pleistocene ranging from northern Argentina, eastwards to northeastern Brazil, and westwards to Colombia and Peru.^[7] 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.^[8]

• Paleodatabase

This prehistoric mammal-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e