Glyptodon | |
---|---|
Restoration of Glyptodon | |
Information | |
Range | South America |
Scientific Classification | |
Kingdom | Animalia |
Phylum | Chordata |
Class | Mammalia |
Order | Cingulata |
Family | †Glyptodontidae |
Genus | †Glyptodon |
Species | †Glyptodon clavipes †Glyptodon elongatus †Glyptodon elongatus †Glyptodon perforatus †Glyptodon reticulatus |
Conservation Status | |
Extinct |
The Glyptodon (Greek for "grooved or carved tooth") was a large, armored mammal of the family Glyptodontidae, a relative of armadillos that lived during the Pleistocene epoch. It was roughly the same size and weight as a Volkswagen Beetle, though flatter in shape. With its rounded, bony shell and squat limbs, it superficially resembled turtles, and the much earlier dinosaurian ankylosaur, as an example of the convergent evolution of unrelated lineages into similar forms. Glyptodon is believed to have been an herbivore, grazing on grasses and other plants found near rivers and small bodies of water.