303 Dr. H. Burmeister on Glyptodon and its Allies. 



verrucosus ', and these scales belong, in my opinion, to the same 

 animal, to which therefore this name may be applied. 



The pelvis in question, which I regard as belonging to this 

 G. verrucosus, is well figured in Robin^s ' Journal d'Anatomie et 

 de Physiologie^ for March 1866, pi. 3, where M. Pouchet de- 

 scribes it as belonging to a new species, G. giganteus, founded 

 by M. Serres in a paper which I do not know. This well- 

 executed figure gives a good idea of the strength of the pelvis 

 and the great size of the animal. As the very well-preserved tip 

 of the tail in our public Museum is 3 feet 8 inches long and 7 

 inches in diam. at its commencement, we may calculate that the 

 animal was 10-13 feet in length, if not more, and that its body 

 was an enormous mass, like a large oval rock. Nevertheless 

 this species was not the largest of the family — the tail of G. tu- 

 herculatus, figured in the ^ Ost^ographie,' pi. 1. fig. 4, and pre- 

 served in our Museum, being of double the size, comparing its 

 general figure with that of the former. From the precise similarity 

 in the position of the elliptical and radially striated figures on 

 the two tails, I was at first inclined to believe that both belonged 

 to the same species; but as I have now seen three other speci- 

 mens of both tails of the same form, I must regard them as be- 

 longing to different species. To understand their difference in 

 general size, it is sufficient to compare the smallest lateral ellip- 

 tical figure, like a rosette, on the tails of the three species. In G. 

 clavipes this rosette measures 3^ inches, in G. verrucosus 4^ inches, 

 and in G. tuberculatus 5§ inches. If this difference be truly 

 indicative of the general size, as I believe to be the case, the 

 last-mentioned species was one-fifth larger than that named G. 

 giganteus by M. Serres. 



With regard to the general form of the tail, I will only repeat 

 what I have already said in my first communication — namely, 

 that the tail of every true Glyptodon had rings, probably six in 

 number, before the large cylindrical apex which alone was pre- 

 viously known. This apex contains in its interior ten small ver- 

 tebrse ; and beyond the sacral vertebrse the skeletons have always 

 three or four free vertebrse covered by the hinder part of the cara- 

 pace. On comparing the size of the bodies of these vertebrse 

 with the first of the apex of the tail, it is evident that there was 

 between them a series of from six to eight vertebrse which were 

 covered by the free rings of the tail. In this way I calculate 

 the total number of the caudal vertebrse of G. clavipes at 30-33. 



As I am engaged upon extended descriptions of the species in 

 the Museum, to be published in the second part of the ^ Anales 

 del Museo publico de Buenos Aires,' which will soon be sent to 

 press, I will not here enter upon any further details, but conclude 

 this communication with a short revision of the species in question. 



