GLYPTODON. 
GLYPTODON. 
( Glyptodon clcivicaudaias) 
This gigantic fossil Edentate was a representative in pleistocene times of the Armadillos of 
South America. It was furnished with a huge carapace or coat of .mail, formed of polygonal 
long plates, united by sutures, and constituting an impenetrable covering for the upper part of 
the body and part of the tail. The carapace differs from that of modern Armadillos in having 
no greaves or joints for the purpose of contracting or rolling up its body. The tail was 
enclosed in an independent cuirass, like a sword in its scabbard. The head also was defended 
by a tesselated bony casque. The bones of the leg and foot were perfectly adapted to bear 
the steady pressure of this enormous weight. The latter is admirably contrived to form the 
base of a column, and at the same time to allow a degree of motion required for the scratch- 
ing and digging operations of Dasypoid animals. It is penta-dactylous, four of the digits 
being furnished with long flattened nails similar to those of the Elephant. The teeth, num- 
bering eight on each side of each jaw, are sculptured laterally by two wide and deep channels, 
which divide the grinding surface into three portions. The genuine name (Glyptodon, sculp- 
tured tooth ) was derived from this fluting of the molars. The lower jaw is of singular shape, 
— its angle being elevated to a level with the grinding surface of the teeth. The animal meas- 
ures from snout to tail, following the curve of the back, nine feet ; the tesselated trunk-armor 
being five feet in length and seven feet across. It can only be matched among shield-bearing 
animals by the Schistoplew'wrn typus , an allied fossil from Montevideo, and by the great land 
Tortoise whose remains are found fossil in the Siwalik Hills of India. 
