Paleuphractus argentinus ( Moreno & Mercerat, 1891 )

Brandoni, Diego, Barasoain, Daniel & González Ruiz, Laureano R., 2023, Late Miocene Dasypodidae Gray, 1821 (Xenarthra, Cingulata) from the Toro Negro Formation (Central Andes, Argentina): diversity and chronological and biogeographical implications, Comptes Rendus Palevol 22 (1), pp. 1-16 : 8

Paleuphractus argentinus ( Moreno & Mercerat, 1891)

( Fig. 4; Table 1)

Dasypus argentinus – Moreno & Mercerat, 1891: 227.

MATERIAL REFERRED. — CRILAR-Pv 122, several associated elements, including 15 fixed osteoderms, nine mobile osteoderms, one nuchal osteoderm and seven osteoderms of the carapace borders, plus several broken postcranial elements.

GEOGRAPHIC AND STRATIGRAPHIC PROVENANCE. — Quebrada de Las Torrecillas (28°36’37”S, 68°14’14”W), La Rioja Province, Argentina ( Fig. 1). Upper levels of the lower member of the Toro Negro Formation (Messinian-Zanclean; Late Miocene-Early Pliocene).

D ESCRIPTION

Nuchal osteoderm. A single osteoderm ( Fig. 4A) of the nuchal bands was recovered. As in mobile osteoderms (see below), it is divided into an articular and an ornamented portion. However, it is smaller and has a very reduced articular portion in relation to osteoderms of the mobile bands. It has a rectangular outline. The ornamentation includes flat and poorly developed central and lateral figures, which are only partially delimited by shallow sulci. At the posterior margin there is a single row of 6 piliferous foramina but, contrary to the osteoderms of the mobile bands, there are 3 to 4 much larger foramina at the lateral margins.