They discover the fossilized arm of an armadillo that weighed more than a ton

Perfectly preserved fossil remains of a giant armadillo have been discovered, believed to be around 700,000 years old. The finding offers new clues about the morphology and evolutionary tree of this class of animals.

The lands of San Pedro, a district of Buenos Aires located more than 160 kilometers from Buenos Aires, in Argentina, continue to offer enormous paleontological treasures for experts and the community. It is there that the 700,000-year-old fossilized arm of the great armadillo was recently found, a period known as the Ensenadan Age.

“This is the complete and excellently preserved right arm and hand of a giant armadillo, of a genus called Doedicurus. Until now, the morphology of the hands of this genus of animals was practically unknown for that antiquity”, explains, in dialogue with the CTyS-UNLaM Agency, José Luis Aguilar, director of the Paleontological Museum of San Pedro and one of the discoverers of the arm .

The fossil piece was discovered during a joint field trip between the Museum team and members of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of the National University of Rosario (UNR), in a property owned by the sand company Spósito SA and which is a site widely recognized for its fossil wealth.

For Aguilar, the state of conservation of the fossils is a key aspect. “All the bones of the specimen are in their position: the scapula, the humerus, the radius and all the small bones that made up the right hand. We are talking about a gigantic mammal, weighing more than a ton”, describes the director, who also clarifies that there were certain difficulties in recovering the remains of the mammal.

The fossilized arm and members of the research team. (Photo: CTyS-UNLaM Agency / Paleontological Museum of San Pedro)

“When we talk about a depth of 8 meters, the challenges are several, since the sediments are very compacted and have the weight of the sediments that are above. To this is added that digging in a ravine, as in this case, is always complicated because a kind of small cave or grotto is formed, where the same roof is bothering the excavation”, Aguilar illustrates. Along with the animal’s arm, a tibia, a fibula and part of a foot were also recovered, also articulated and in perfect condition.

For Dr. Luciano Brambilla, a researcher at the UNR, the relevance of this discovery lies in the fact that it is the most complete perfectly articulated arm and hand of the genus Doedicurus, dating back more than 700,000 years.

“The whole set becomes a totally unusual find, which will reveal an unknown part of the evolutionary history of the Doedicurus. Through this specimen, we will be able to measure and compare the changes in the hands and feet of these animals over thousands of years, in order to recognize the adaptations they underwent in the process of evolution until before their extinction, about 12,000 years ago ” .

The expedition, in addition to having Aguilar and Brambilla, was made up of Julio Simonini, Jorge Martínez and Walter Parra, from the Fray Manuel de Torres Paleontological Museum and Santiago Pallero. (Source: Nicolás Camargo Lescano (CTyS-UNLaM Agency))