
Doedicurus | |
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A restoration of Doedicurus clavicaudatus | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Superorder: | Xenarthra |
Order: | Cingulata |
Family: | Chlamyphoridae |
Genus: | †Doedicurus Burmeister, 1874 |
Species: | †D, clavicaudatus Owen, 1847 |
Binomial name | |
Doedicurus clavicaudatus Owen, 1847 |
Doedicurus is a Xenarthran Glyptodont from Pleistocene South America. As strange as it may look, it is a species of armadillo. It was very unusual because South America was isolated for so long that the mammals there took forms independent of any other continent. It shared its home with the Smilodon, Megatherium, Toxodon, and Macrauchenia. It is the largest known Glyptodont.
Taxonomy and evolution[]
Description[]
Doedicurus clavicaudatus inhabited woodlands and grasslands and was herbivorous. With a height of 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) and an overall length of around 4 meters (13 feet), it could reach a mass of approximately 1,910 to 2,370 kilograms (1.91 to 2.37 tons).
Paleobiology[]
Paleoecology[]
In popular culture[]
- Doedicurus appeared in Walking with Beasts.
- Doedicurus appeared in Zoo Tycoon 2 as an adoptable animal.
- Doedicurus appeared in Jurassic Park: Builder.
- Doedicurus appeared as a tamable creature in Ark: Survival Evolved
- Doedicurus appeared in Jurassic World: The Game.
- Doedicurus appeared in Life on Our Planet.
- Doedicurus appeared in Dino Riders.
- Doedicurus appeared in the Ice Age series.
Gallery[]
Artistic reconstruction of Doedicurus clavicaudatus, with a human for scale. The distal rigid caudal sheath and the mobile free rings are shown. Adapted from Ubilla et al. (2008) (fig. 13.3, with permission of Perea, D. ed. 2008).