New Species of Fossil Armadillo Discovered in Brazil | Sci.News
Paleontologists have identified a new species of the extinct armadillo genus Parutaetus from fossilized osteoderms collected in the state of Paraná in southern Brazil.
Hypothetical artistic reconstruction of Parutaetus oliveirai in the Middle-Late Eocene of Brazil. Image credit: Márcio L. Castro.
Parutaetus oliveirai inhabited South America between 42 and 39 million years ago (Middle-Late Eocene epoch).
The ancient species belongs to Euphractinae, a group of armadillos within the family Dasypodidae.
“Dasypodidae are represented by extant and extinct armadillos,” said Universidade Federal de Santa paleontologist Tabata Klimeck and colleagues.
“This group has a wide stratigraphic and geographic distribution from southern Patagonia to southern North America.”
“The paleontological record of armadillos is mainly represented by their osteoderms.”
“They are known in almost all South American mammalian faunas from the Late Paleocene/Early Eocene or only from the Early Eocene, according to other interpretations.”
“Euphractinae is the most diverse clade (subfamily) within Dasypodidae,” they noted.
“The oldest occurrences of undoubted euphractines date from the Middle-Late Eocene of Gran Barranca locality in Argentinian Patagonia and Middle Eocene Upper Lumbrera Formation of northwestern Argentina.”
“Parutaetus is one of the early-divergent euphractines,” they added.
“This genus was described in 1902, with the type species Parutaetus chicoensis from Argentinian Patagonia.”
Eight fossilized osteoderms from Parutaetus oliveirai were found in the Guabirotuba Formation, located in the municipality of Curitiba in the Brazilian state of Paraná.
“The Guabirotuba Formation is the main lithostratigraphic unit of the Curitiba Sedimentary Basin,” the paleontologists said.
“It is represented by deposits of a distributive fluvial system composed of immature subarchoic sands and muds, interspersed with gravel deposits restricted to the edges of the basin.”
“The geological characteristics indicate a semi-arid environment, with rainy periods originating temporary rivers that transported the sediment and formed alluvial fans.”
The new species expands the knowledge about the diversity of armadillos that inhabited southeast South America during the Paleogene period.
“Parutaetus oliveirai’s osteoderms differ from other species of the genus by presenting: (i) more surface glandular and piliferous foramina; (ii) a flat surface articulation area between the osteoderms, which does not present a groove in the middle portion of the osteoderm; and (iii) larger size,” the researchers said.
“In combination, this suite of traits is not present in other species of the Parutaetus genus.”
“The increase in the number of surface glandular and piliferous foramina, as well as in size, may be associated with the global cooling that occurred during the Middle-Late Eocene that affected the South American faunas.”
“Finally, the new species expands the knowledge about the still poorly known diversity of mammals that inhabited southeast South America during the Eocene epoch.”
The findings were published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
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T.D.F. Klimeck et al. 2024. Revealing the diversity of Paleogene cingulates from Brazil: a new species of Parutaetus (Euphractinae) in the Guabirotuba Formation (Middle-Late Eocene). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 44 (1): e2403581; doi: 10.1080/02724634.2024.2403581
