Macroeuphractus

Macroeuphractus is a genus of extinct armadillos from the Late Miocene to Late Pliocene of South America. The genus is noted for its large size, with Macroeuphractus outesi being the largest non-pampathere or glyptodont armadillo discovered, as well as its specializations for carnivory, unique among all xenarthrans.

Macroeuphractus

Richard Lydekker · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
EuphractiniPBDB
Diet
insectivorePBDB, for Dasypodidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Dasypodidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 1.7 million years on record.

The record covers at least 5.333 Mya to 3.6 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 11.63 Mya to 2.58 Mya.

Miocene — about 18 of 32 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 14 of 32 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 0 of 32 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences10–10 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences10–9.8 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.8–9.4 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.4–9.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.1–8.8 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.8–8.4 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.4–8.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.1–7.8 Mya — about 1 occurrence7.8–7.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.4–7.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.1–6.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences6.8–6.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences6.4–6.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences6.1–5.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences5.8–5.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences5.4–5.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences5.1–4.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.8–4.4 Mya — about 1 occurrence4.4–4.1 Mya — about 1 occurrence4.1–3.8 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.8–3.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.4–3.1 Mya — about 3 occurrences3.1–2.8 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.8–2.4 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences5.333 Mya3.6 Mya12.1 Mya2.1 Mya

32 occurrences of Macroeuphractus on record. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

32 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

13 formations

Cerro Azul — 38.77°S, 62.16°WCerro Azul — 36.25°S, 65.51°WCerro Azul — 35.69°S, 64.67°WCerro Azul — 37.73°S, 63.53°WCerro Azul — 36.08°S, 65.00°WCerro Azul — 37.02°S, 64.51°WCerro Azul — 36.84°S, 65.28°WCerro Azul — 35.92°S, 64.87°WCerro Azul — 36.22°S, 65.06°WCerro Azul — 36.68°S, 64.18°WUmala — 18.83°S, 66.15°WUmala — 17.08°S, 68.00°WEpecuén — 37.22°S, 63.55°WMonte Hermoso — 38.00°S, 61.00°WMonte Hermoso — 38.97°S, 61.70°WSaldungaray — 35.68°S, 64.67°WLa Paz — 16.50°S, 68.15°WItuzaingo — 31.48°S, 60.23°WRío Quinto — 33.48°S, 65.73°WAndalhuala — 27.22°S, 66.93°WChapadmalal — 38.12°S, 57.70°WPuerto Belgrano — 38.98°S, 61.82°WBrochero — 31.92°S, 64.57°WPalo Pintado — 25.37°S, 65.92°W

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The named rock units Macroeuphractus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 3 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

427 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 23 sites for Macroeuphractus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

18 references

Each of the 32 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 6 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Macroeuphractus

Credit
Richard Lydekker
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Macroeuphractus was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itEuphractini through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Ameghino 1887