Stegotherium

Stegotherium
Temporal range: Early Miocene (Colhuehuapian-Santacrucian)
~21.0–16.3 Ma
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Skeleton of Stegotherium tauberi (without carapace)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Cingulata
Family: Dasypodidae
Subfamily: Dasypodinae
Genus: †Stegotherium
Ameghino, 1887
Type species
†Stegotherium tessellatum
Ameghino, 1887
Species
  • S. caroloameghinoi Fernicola & Vizcaíno, 2008
  • S. notohippidensis González & Scillato-Yané, 2009
  • S. pascuali Fernicola & Vizcaíno, 2008
  • S. simplex? Ameghino, 1887
  • S. tauberi González & Scillato-Yané, 2008[1]
  • S. tessellatum Ameghino, 1887 (type species)
  • S. variegatum Ameghino, 1902
Synonyms
  • Scotaeops simplex Ameghino, 1887
  • Stegotheriopsis gaimanensis Bordas, 1939

Stegotherium is an extinct genus of long-nosed armadillo, belonging to the Dasypodidae family alongside the nine-banded armadillo. It is currently the only genus recognized as a member of the tribe Stegotheriini. It lived during the Early Miocene of Patagonia and was found in Colhuehuapian rocks from the Sarmiento Formation, Santacrucian rocks from the Santa Cruz Formation,[2] and potentially also in Colloncuran rocks from the Middle Miocene Collón Curá Formation.[3] Its strange, almost toothless and elongated skull indicates a specialization for myrmecophagy, the eating of ants, unique among the order Cingulata, which includes pampatheres, glyptodonts and all the extant species of armadillos.[4]

  1. ^ González Laureano Raúl, Scillato-Yané Gustavo Juan. Una nueva especie de Stegotherium Ameghino (Xenarthra, Dasypodidae, Stegotheriini) del Mioceno de la provincia de Santa Cruz (Argentina). Ameghiniana, 2008 Dic; 45(4): 641-648.
  2. ^ Stegotherium at Fossilworks.org
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference GR10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ González Ruiz, L. R. L.; Scillato-Yané, G. J. (2009). "A new Stegotheriini (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Dasypodidae) from the "Notohippidian" (early Miocene) of Patagonia, Argentina". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen. 252: 81–90. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2009/0252-0081. hdl:11336/95016.