First evidence of scavenging of a Glyptodont (Mammalia, Glyptodontidae) from the Pliocene of the Pampean region (Argentina): Taphonomic and paleoecological remarks

Abstract

The Cingulata Glyptodontidae (Xenarthra) are one of the most conspicuous Cenozoic herbivore clades in South America reaching North America during the Great American Biotic Interchange. The evidence of predation on these large armoured mammals is very scarce and limited to a Pliocene skull (Glyptotherium) in North America and some latest Pleistocene-early Holocene specimens in South America, with signals of human consumption. In this contribution, we present the first case of scavenging on a glyptodont belonging to cf. Eosclerocalyptus lineatus (Hoplophorini) from the Pliocene of the Pampean region (Argentina). In addition, we analyze the potential scavengers and the paleoenvironmental context in which this occurred. The evidence suggests that: a) the carcass was covered by a shallow water body, probably an abandoned channel; b) the carcass was completely covered during a brief lapse of time, probably less than a year; c) the morphology of the bite marks clearly coincide with the dentition of the procyonid Chapalmalania (Mammalia, Procyonidae), thus corroborating some presumptions about the paleoautoecological trends of this taxon. © Palaeontological Association May 2013.