Glyptodontidae indet., 1839

Carrillo-Briceno, Jorge Domingo, Ruiz-Ramoni, Damian, Sanchez, Rodolfo, Jaimes, Arturo, Chavez-Aponte, Edwin, Prevosti, Francisco Juan, Segura, Valentina, Carlini, Alfredo Armando, Garbe, Lisa, Tombret, Olivier, Zazzo, Antoine & Sanchez-Villagra, Marcelo Ricardo, 2024, Cauca: megafaunal and felid fossils (Mammalia) from a Pleistocene site in northwest Venezuela, Fossil Record 27 (1), pp. 187-207 : 187

† Glyptodontidae indet.

Fig. 6

Referred material.

Two isolated osteoderms (AMU-CURS-1047 and -1360) were collected on the surface at the Cauca site (Fig. 1B ).

Descriptions.

Both isolated osteoderms are from the shell. AMU-CURS-1047 has a Tl of 47 mm and is eroded on both the internal and external faces, which does not allow the identification of the ornamentation pattern (Fig. 6A1, A2 ). AMU-CURS-1360 possibly corresponds to an osteoderm from the anterior lateral region of the shell and this has a Tl of 31 mm; it is also eroded on the inner face, and partially preserving the ornamentation of the outer face with a central figure of irregular polygonal shape, preserving some foramina that could belong to hair follicles and surrounded by a groove (Fig. 6B1, B2 ).

Remarks.

The state of preservation of these two osteoderms does not allow a more precise taxonomic determination than Glyptodontidae , Glyptodontinae . However, these osteoderms could belong to the genus Glyptotherium , widely known in the Late Pleistocene of the Falcón State, especially at the sites of Muaco and Taima-Taima ( Carlini et al. 2008, 2022). A recent report suggests that these Glyptotherium -related armadillos had a broader distribution in what is now Venezuela during the Late Pleistocene, with reports including mountain areas above 1200 m altitude (see Jaimes et al. (2024b)).

Proboscidea Illiger, 1811

† Gomphotheriidae Hay, 1922

† Notiomastodon Cabrera, 1929

Figures

Figure 1. Geographic location of the Cauca site (A) and the excavation area (B). The different bone groupings are referred to as " S " and the excavations as " A-E ". The M 2 isolated from a juvenile Notiomastodon platensis (AMU-CURS- 1045) is referred to with a triangle and *. Lithic artefacts referred to here are illustrated in Fig. 9.

Figure 6. Indeterminate Glyptodontidae osteoderms from Cauca site. A 1, A 2. AMU-CURS- 1047; B 1, B 2. AMU-CURS- 1360; both in external and transversal view.