PRIMITIVE EARLY RELATIVE OF ARMADILLOS HELPS REWRITE EVOLUTIONARY FAMILY TREE
TWO-HUNDRED-POUND, ARMORED MAMMAL LIVED AT A TIME WHEN ANDES WERE ONE-FOURTH THEIR PRESENT HEIGHT Artist's reconstruction of Parapropalaehoplophorus septentrionalis , a glyptodont which likely weighed 200 pounds. Credit: Velizar Simeonovski A team of U.S. and Chilean scientists working high in the Andes have discovered the fossilized remains of an extinct, tank-like mammal they conclude was a primitive relative of today's armadillos. The results of their surprising new discovery are described in an upcoming issue of Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Parapropalaehoplophorus septentrionalis , likely weighed in at a mere 200 pounds and was covered with a massive shell of immovable armored plates, unlike the hinged rows of plates on armadillos. The fossil was found at the unusually high elevation of 14,000 feet. Researchers uncovering a portion of the animal's shell or carapace, which, unlike an armadillo's, was composed of immovable armored plates. Credit: R. Charrier | |
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