Saturday, February 4, 2023 | 4:30 p.m.
Emilia, a 9-year-old girl, found the remains of two glyptodons between 2.5 and 3 million years old while she was walking with her family along the beaches of the Buenos Aires town of Chapadmalal. After the discovery, her parents notified the professionals of the Lorenzo Scaglia Municipal Museum of Natural Sciences, who this Friday confirmed the news through a statement.
The glyptodon genera found so far are Eosclerocalyptus and Eleutherocercus. The first is on a small scale, with a body mass of 450 kilograms, while the second triples its weight (1,500 kilograms), according to what spokesmen for the Municipality of General Pueyrredón explained to the EFE news agency. In addition, a large number of scattered rodent remains were found in the place, “which are very good indicators of the age of the deposits and the environments that existed in the past.”
“Emilia found some bones that caught her attention. The parents quickly contacted us, sent us photos, and once we could see the skeletal remains, we went to the beach. When we arrived, we only had one glyptodon to pull out because that was what had been seen initially. But since the tide had gone down a lot and had withdrawn a little from the sand, it could be observed from the base of the cliff. In the same place, displaced about 10 meters towards the sea, we sighted another glyptodont shell, ”she recounted in dialogue with TN Matías Taglioretti, paleontologist at the museum.
For this particular time segment, between 3 and 2.5 million years, researchers did not have many fossil records, so these new materials come to fill a “small gap” in the knowledge of these formidable prehistoric beasts, which are similar to a giant terrestrial armadillo and that are related to the current mule, hairy and tatú cart. “These are very important discoveries to be able to understand the evolution of this large group of prehistoric mammals. The new discoveries are older animals than those generally found in the province of Buenos Aires,” explained the specialist.
Although finding glyptodon remains is frequent in these times, those that were recovered in the southern cliffs of the town of Mar del Plata are “unique” because they show glyptodons from the Pliocene period (5.33 to 2.58 million years ago). ) that are very rare in other deposits.
According to the sources consulted, there are differences between glyptodonts and current armadillos, depending on the size and architecture of their shell. The plates that form part of the upper armor of this species are, to a greater extent, highly fused, which forms a rigid structure, resembling true prehistoric war tanks. The largest forms reach 4 meters in length, 1.5 m. tall and weigh up to two tons.
“The two glyptodons found come from the same era because they emerge from the same geological level. Most of the glyptodon finds that we have in the area are more modern, and are much better known,” added Taglioretti.
At present, Mar del Plata and the adjacent areas have the most representative paleontological sites of the upper Cenozoic in all of South America.
