 | This article includes alist of references,related reading, orexternal links,but its sources remain unclear because it lacksinline citations. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(June 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Urotherium | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Cingulata |
| Family: | Chlamyphoridae |
| Subfamily: | †Glyptodontinae |
| Genus: | †Urotherium Castellanos, 1926 |
| Type species | |
| Urotherium simplex Castellanos, 1926 | |
| Species | |
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Urotherium is anextinctgenus ofGlyptodont. It lived from the LateMiocene to the LatePliocene, and its fossilized remains were found inSouth America.
This animal, like all glyptodonts, had a strong dorsal armor composed of numerous osteoderms fused together. The genus was characterized by an almost cylindrical caudal tube, obtuse and covered of small and raised osteoderms separated by wide and deep furrows. A pair of lateral osteoderms was preceded by other poorly differentiated osteoderms. The osteoderms of the carapace resembled those of the genusTrachycalyptus, remarkably wrinkled and strongly punctuated, with a barely distinct central figure, less dotted than the peripheral area. Compared toTrachycalyptus, the osteoderms ofUrotherium were thicker and more rounded. In the speciesUrotherium simile, the osteoderms had lost their sutures and resembled those ofGlyptodon.
The genusUrotherium was first described in 1926 by Castellanos, based on fossil remains found inArgentina found in Late Miocene-Early Pliocene terrains. Thetype species isUrotherium simplex ; another species,U. simile, was described in 1948 by Castellanos, andU. simile was later ascribed to the genus, having originally been described byFlorentino Ameghino as belonging to another genus of glyptodont. The status ofU. antiquus, another species, is disputed between the generaNeuryurus andPlohophorus.
Urotherium was a genus of glyptodont of uncertain affinities, variously placed within the tribesNeuryurini,Hoplophorini andLomaphorini. It may have been the sister taxon of the genusNeuryurus.
