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| Neuryurus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Cingulata |
| Family: | Chlamyphoridae |
| Subfamily: | †Glyptodontinae |
| Genus: | †Neuryurus Ameghino, 1889 |
| Type species | |
| †Neuryurus rudis Gervais, 1878 | |
| Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Neuryurus is anextinctgenus ofglyptodont. It lived from the LatePliocene to the EarlyHolocene, and its fossilized remains were discovered inSouth America.
This genus, like all glyptodonts, had a heavy armor formed byosteoderms fused together, protecting most of its body.Neuryurus was large-sized, reaching three meters in length. The carapace resembled that of other glyptodonts such asTrachycalyptus, with thick and rectangular-shaped osteoderms, loosely fused by a serrated suture. The outer surface of those osteoderms was evenly dotted. The tail was protected by a caudal tube ; this structure, inNeuryurus, was depressed, not consolidated and mostly formed by osteoderms similar to each others. The lateral osteoderms had large elliptical structures, with a central conical prominence, reminding those ofHoplophorus andPanochthus. Some marginal plates had an elevated and conical central area. The cephalic shield resembled that ofPanochthus, due to the presence of slightly marked peripheral tubercles.
The genusNeuryurus was first established in 1889 byFlorentino Ameghino, replacing the nameEuryurus that Ameghino andPaul Gervais had described a few years earlier but already used by a genus ofmillipedes.Neuryurus is mostly known from its type species,Neuryurus rudis, typical of the Early and MiddlePleistocene deposits ofArgentina. Fossils attributed to the genus, but not to the type species, are known from Argentine terrains dating from the Late Pliocene. The most recent fossils date from the Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene, and have been found inUruguay,Brazil and Argentina. Two other species, N. interundatus andN. giganteus, have also been attributed to the genus.
Neuryurus is an unusual genus within the glytodonts ; the peculiar morphology of its caudal tube distinguishes it from all other genera of glyptodonts, even if it is supposed to be related to the tribeHoplophorini. It may have been similar to the genusPanochthus, but its closest relative seems to have beenUrotherium.
