The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Glyptodonts

(Glyptodontidae), extinct mammals of the order Edentata, related to the armadillos. They existed from the early Eocene to the Pleistocene. Their size varied greatly, with the largest reaching a length of 2 m. The body of the glyptodont was covered with bony shields or a solid shell like that of the turtle. The short limbs had broad, hoof-like claws. The skull was small; there were no incisors or canine teeth, and the tall, prismatic teeth indicate a diet of coarse vegetation. Glyptodonts were distributed primarily in South America and also in the southern part of North America during the Pliocene and Pleistocene.

REFERENCES

Osnovy Paleontologii: Mlekopitaiushchie. Moscow, 1962.
Romer, A. S. Paleontologiia pozvonochnykh. Moscow-Leningrad, 1939. Pages 342-44. (Translated from English.)

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References in periodicals archive

Based on comparisons with DNA from modern armadillos and their relatives, the researchers determined that glyptodonts' closest living relatives are fairy armadillos (SN: 11/16/13, p.

Ancient armadillo look-alikes are related to modern armadillos

As a result, the identification of North American glyptodonts relies mostly on characters of the carapace and osteoderms (Gillette and Ray, 1981).

Two new glyptodont records (Mammalia: Cingulata) from the late Pleistocene of Tamaulipas and Tlaxcala, Mexico: implications for the taxonomy of the genus Glyptotherium

Apart from long-extinct animals, like mammoths and glyptodonts, there were also some familiar faces which survived the test of time - the muskoxen, cougar and bison.

Mammoths in Manhattan; A new BBC2 series goes back to the Ice Age, when dinosaurs ruled and man was the new kid on the block, reports JULIE MacCASKILL

Carved teeth and strange jaws: How glyptodonts masticated.

Primer registro de un ejemplar juvenil de Glyptodon sp. (Cingulata, Glyptodontidae) del Cuaternario de la provincia de Cordoba, Argentina

Known as 'glyptodonts', the animals were clumsy armadillo-like creatures covered with a thick tortoise-like shell that roamed the planet up to 23 million years ago.

Armadillo ancestor used 'mace-like tail' to kill enemies 23 million years ago

The thick armor and large size of adult glyptodonts and pampatheres probably would have been a deterrent even for a pack of dire wolves.

Dire wolf, Canis dirus (mammalia; carnivora; canidae), from the late Pleistocene (rancholabrean) of east-central Sonora, Mexico

New 4,300 YR 14C age of glyptodonts at Lujan river (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and its implications.

Primer registro de Glyptodon Owen (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Cingulata) para el Pleistoceno de la provincia de Mendoza (Argentina)

What caused the virtually simultaneous demise of mammoths, mastodons and saber-toothed cats, not to mention native horses, ground sloths, native camels, armadillo-like glyptodonts, giant peccaries, mountain deer, giant beavers, four-pronged antelopes, dire wolves, native lions and giant short-faced bears?

Extinctions on ice: mass extinctions of North American mammals at the end of the last Ice Age continue to draw scientific attention and debate