Vassallia
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Vassallia | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Cingulata |
Family: | †Pampatheriidae |
Genus: | †Vassallia Castellanos 1927 |
Type species | |
†Vassallia minuta Moreno and Mercerat 1891
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Species | |
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Vassallia is an extinct genus of
Description
This animal must have been very similar in shape and size to today's giant armadillo (
A study carried out on the
Classification
The genus Vassallia was first described by Castellanos in 1927; the type species, Vassallia minuta, was smaller in size than that of the larger contemporary pampathere Kraglievichia, while V. maxima, described by Castellanos himself a few years later, was larger. Remains of these species have been found in Argentina, while fossils akin to those of V. minuta have been found in Bolivia.
Vassallia is a member of the Pampatheriidae, an extinct family of cingulates of closely related to armadillos, but equipped with a different type of armor and dentition. In particular, it appears that Vassallia is a possible ancestor, or very close in origin, of the genus Kraglievichia, which in turn is seen as ancestral to the well-known Pampatherium.
Paleobiology
Study of the morphology of the teeth and jaws of Vassallia indicates that this animal was a herbivore, probably feeding on grass and not on leaves and shrubs.
Bibliography
- Castellanos, A. (1927). Breves notas sobre los clamidoterios. Publ. Cent. Est. Ing. Rosario 1-8, Argentina.
- L. G. Marshall and T. Sempere. 1991. The Eocene to Pleistocene vertebrates of Bolivia and their stratigraphic context: a review. Fósiles y Facies de Bolivia - Vol. 1 Vertebrados (Revista Ténica de YPFB) 12(3-4):631-652.
- SF Vizcaíno, G De Iuliis, MS Bargo. 1998. Skull Shape, Masticatory Apparatus, and Diet of Vassallia and Holmesina (Mammalia: Xenarthra: Pampatheriidae): When Anatomy Constrains Destiny. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 5 (4), 291–322
- De Iuliis G, Edmund AG. Vassallia maxima Castellanos, 1946 (Mammalia: Xenarthra: Pampatheriidae), from Puerta del CorralQuemado (Late Miocene to Early Pliocene), Catamarca Province, Argentina. 2002. In: Cenozoic Mammals of Land and Sea. Emry RJ, editor. Washington, Smithsonian Institution Press; 93: 49 - 64.