Ontogenia de cingulados juvenis do quaternário da Bahia, Brasil: morfologia e paleobiologia
Resumen
Members of the Order Cingulata are placental mammals with articulated bony armor covering
their bodies. They represent the most diverse group within the superorder Xenarthra, among
which the glyptodonts (Glyptodontinae) comprise the most peculiar armored herbivores. This
is a clade whose oldest specimens originate from tropical areas of South America during the
Middle to Late Miocene. Their fossil record is mainly represented by disarticulated
osteoderms and skull fragments. Juvenile specimens of cingulates are relatively frequent in
fossil collections; however, knowledge about their juvenile stages is still incipient. The
morphological variations seen in different developmental stages of taxa are important for
understanding their life history, especially concerning fossil material due to biases presented
by the record. In this research, we describe two juvenile specimens of Cingulata
Glyptodontinae, attributed to the genus Glyptotherium Osborn, 1903, collected at Gruta da
Lapinha, Iramaia, BA. Detailed morphological evidence of juvenile individuals is described,
including an almost complete hemimandible, dental morphology, postcranial bones, and the
ornamentation pattern of osteoderms, as well as information regarding their diet and feeding
habits derived from mesowear and microwear (texture analysis) dental studies. Additionally,
the development of methodologies using tools that would be applied to teeth still attached to
the mandible and extremely fragile is proposed. Finally, the protocol's applicability developed
for the above purpose is demonstrated in samples reported at the end of this research.
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